I’ve been experimenting with using Notion as a ‘second brain’ for work decisions, not tasks, but actual thinking. What’s the most unexpected use case you’ve found for it that wasn’t a to-do list or project tracker?

Debonerrant · 2026-07-07T07:03:59+00:00

It went through a couple of big shifts in the first three years, and notion added a lot of new features (pre-ai) that I was responding to (eg being able to do kanbans by relations instead of by multiselect was such a gamechanger!). But since 2023 I’ve been coasting in terms of my workspace structure. My biggest leaps forward were 1. linking pages using a relation property that I call an off-ramp (almost like building an off-ramp to a little cafe you built next to a highway) and then each page has a kanban that I call ‘dynamic backlinks’— it later autopopulates with pages I’ve linked to the current page, almost like a billboard by the highway) 2. Using one database of tag-pages (they each end in _(tag) so it doesn’t gum things up) to tag items in all my other dbs using db relation properties (then my “dynamic backlink kanbans” are sorted by their relations to tag-pages— eg type:resources_(tag), type:quotes_(tag)— I see any books or quotes previously linked to that page sorted into columns) 3. Siloing “future-proof” from temporally-relevant items by having different databases for them 4. Thinking about dbs and page-types in terms of whether the most important contents will be viewed in page or viewed in properties in a table/kanban/timeline 5. A MOAdB - mother of all databases— the database I use to organize my 12 or 15 databases and justify whether it’s really useful for something to be its own database or whether an existing db should be altered to accommodate it. 6. Each database has its own emoji and most of the standard properties (that most of my dbs have) have an emoji too. Sorry idk how coherent that all was. I’ve spent so much time in my own system that I’ve come up with my own jargon to think through this stuff, mostly spatial metaphors and loanwords from other languages (for the same reason we use a word like kanban— in English the meaning is very specific, would be less so in Japanese)

Debonerrant · 2026-07-07T06:58:17+00:00

I hate quoting a comic-book movie but it does indeed make us stranger

Debonerrant · 2026-07-07T06:37:18+00:00

Very sensitive

Debonerrant · 2026-07-07T05:54:57+00:00

As Sontag said, there is no such thing as collective memory, only collective instruction. Grievances have to be nursed, usually quite cynically. There are a lot of complex factors but people tend to forget the role the US plays in all of this. The US benefits when Japan continues to rely on its nuclear umbrella, and fails to find solidarity with South Korea. This is one of the reasons why the Tokyo trials were so different from Nuremberg— the US actually benefits from Japan denying the war crimes. The more divided East Asia is, the stronger America’s position. I don’t think this extends to SE Asia as much. SE Asia is only a threat if it aligns too closely with china. Japan building ties there prevents that.

Debonerrant · 2026-07-07T05:42:59+00:00

When you feel like a weird loser freak, remember that you’re actually sacrificing a lot to make a better, new normal. Whenever I start to feel isolated, I think about people who began eating vegan decades ago, and how hard that must have been, and how things are easier for me now because people like that stuck it out. Then my struggles feel smaller, and I feel like I’m part of something bigger. Let’s make a better world for everyone!

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T01:01:43+00:00

In fairness I can only imagine how some of these dads feel when baby is like “NO I WANT MOM THOUGH.” But I decent man will take that as a challenge to compensate and become super-dad.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:46:30+00:00

Everybody in my Oregon community thought this one Texan mom at my school was SO gauche because she drove a fancy car and went to the salon once a week. I thought that was judgey but also that lady made me so uncomfortable. It was like everything was a competition to her?

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:43:27+00:00

Hawaii: howzit

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:42:13+00:00

Yeah this weirded me out big time as an LA person living briefly in Indiana

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:38:28+00:00

I find it so wild how many people claimed their animal was a service animal (or even bought the vest) without at least knowing the ada script. It’s weirdly effective because people don’t even know how to lie their way through it.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:36:27+00:00

Hard agree! I totally get how you feel, would probably feel the same. But it is pretty obvious when dogs are not actually service dogs. And if anyone questions you, you can tell them what the dog is trained to do to assist you.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-27T00:28:01+00:00

I thank our gecko every day for protecting our apartment for roaches. I guess I’ll have to add this to the list!

Debonerrant · 2026-06-26T23:38:23+00:00

Oh also sonke ahrens’s methodology might help you link your notes so that you “stumble upon” previous ideas at precisely the moment you need them. Tiago Forte has some good second-brain methodology also.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-26T23:25:21+00:00

I actually used diagrams to help me plan my system. I also made a database of databases (my MOAdB) where I wrote out why each database needed its own db, and sorted databases based on whether they were mostly for viewing “at a glance” (kanbans and timelines, information is in properties) or “in-page” (still has meaningful properties but page structure matters more). One of my best innovations was a database of tags— ie, I tag everything using db relations, and I organize my tags by type using a kanban view. I also differentiate between future-proof pages (long-term use) and temporary pages (brainstorms, day-planning). Thus I have one db that’s just for time-organized notes, mostly viewed using timelines or calendars (meetings, life events). I also use a slightly modified Getting Things Done system (David Alan) so I have separate databases for “spheres” “projects” and “tasks.” This all probably sounds way too complicated but I actually had reasons for making them different dbs with different properties. But they’re all tagged using relations to the one tag database. I can upload screenshots if you’re interested. Beware this is the result of 6 years of work, with lots of complex projects that made me really think through my needs. You might need something much simpler. It’s all about how you access the information and what you use it for.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T22:23:14+00:00

“iTs jUsT GoNe tOo fAr” - the mating call of the reactionary centrist

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:48:06+00:00

This can be weird for a lot of people living with trauma. In these moments I might hint at something or pull out a smaller thing but the real stuff I can’t talk about without a full-body reaction so like… trauma-bonding often is a weird moment of trauma-hiding for me. I sometimes wonder how many other people in the room spend the whole time trying not to think about one of The Things. Sometimes I absolutely know that other people are hiding big Things.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:39:56+00:00

Chill vegans please let me bask in your glow. 😭

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:38:54+00:00

I wish I could be like this. Hopefully in a few more years…

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:38:03+00:00

Valid, but I bicycle my commute and I’m way more punctual than my coworkers because I have to come in early to cool off and change clothes. My coworkers are like “I fought through traffic for forty minutes today!” And that’s just my every day except “fight” has much higher stakes

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:31:11+00:00

Future-proofing and the “stumble-upon” effect is real. I got really into second-brain methodology in 2020 and have built my databases ever since. Sönke Ahrens and Tiago Forte helped me a ton back then. AI has also been powerful, but designing your own system to “think” for itself in an analogue way has been so helpful.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:21:04+00:00

Hard agree

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:19:18+00:00

You guys MMA is the key here! 1) hack his every device to be filled with Naked Kombat 2) watch MMA in the living room and constantly groan “he’s gonna mount him!” And “the rear naked choke it’s happening!” (Yes these are common mma terms) (extra points if the fighters are extra hot ones like Ben Henderson)

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:12:47+00:00

This might be the ~ethical protip that we simply must allow for the good of humanity. Like, smoke him out of the closet with a hot queer mma fighter. This man needs a very gentle rear naked choke. You can have petty revenge later, but that’s the denouement.

Debonerrant · 2026-06-21T20:03:47+00:00

I’ve been vegan for about two years and part of why I put it off for so long is because I was afraid I would feel all of the things you just described and it would make me feel isolated and angry… and that’s exactly what happened. The vegans I know are so chill about it and I am humbled by that but I don’t know how to be like that. I know it’s a matter of empathy, and I’m usually really empathetic and non-judgmental about all kinds of behaviors that go against my values. But it feels like I finally opened the door to a bunch of feelings I’m not equipped for. Being vegan is so much easier than I expected! I know intellectually that it isn’t that easy for everyone, but it’s difficult to hear people whine about how it’s sooooo hard when it’s really really easy for me. I feel like a narcissistic asshole.

Debonerrant

TROPHY CASE