One of my goals for 2023 was to get a proper knowledge management system set up.
I have lots of highlights, information and thoughts in my notes app and let’s not even talk about the screenshots I’ve saved ‘to come back to later’.
I started reading ‘Building a second brain’ by Tiago Forte and in it he introduced the concept of having 12 favourite problems.
The original idea came from Richard Feynman - here’s how he describes it:
“You have to keep a dozen of your favourite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and people will say, “How did he do it? He must be a genius!”
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
How to do it?
Read some examples - I’ve put a few random ones I found through having a browse of other peoples. My 12 are also at the bottom for paid subscribers (love you babes)
Make sure they are pretty specific. Questions like ‘How do I live a good life?’ or ‘How can I make more money?’ are too broad. You would want them to be more like ‘What activities brings me the greatest fulfilment and how can I do more of them?’ or ‘How can I make £1,000 a month from my investments/side hustle?’
Have a good think about it. Journal, mull it over on a walk or over a coffee.
Write them down somewhere and revisit them regularly to keep them top of mind. Then you can start running anything new you learn through these problems to be able to apply the parts that are relevant to you.
Here are some suggested sentence structures for the problems:
How do I…?
How can we…?
What is the best way to…?
What is the relationship between A and B?
Why is X a certain way?
Here’s some other peoples favourite problems I liked from having a quick google for inspiration:
Melissa Menke
What are meaningful ways to build community online that doesn't sacrifice the desire for / importance of face to face interaction?
Read the full list here
Juliette Chevalier
What's the most valuable project I can build for the world with my skill set?
Read the full list here
Chris Esh
How to maximize the benefits of technology (connection, convenience, access to information) while minimizing its downsides (distraction, compulsion, lack of presence in real life)?
Read the full list here
Reza
How can make what I learn from books, podcasts, articles (and other information sources) more actionable?
Read the full list here
Stephen Longo
How can I construct a portfolio of real and financial assets that protects principle, offers modest growth, and maintains optionality?
Read the full list here
And here are my personal twelve I’ve got so far for your eyes only my wonderful paid subscriber.
I’ve found creating them immensely valuable and hope you do too.