Our thoughts are the oxygen for our knowledge work. We take in information, store it, and process it into output. Far too often, we take these steps unconsciously. What if we cultivated them into a mind garden?
How is a mind garden created?
On the surface, it seems to be a repetitive process: Gathering information, storing it, and creating notes about it. In many cases, we create our notes on loose sheets, misplace them, or don't understand them when we look at them again. So how do we cultivate our notes so that we can use them again and again?
Three steps to grow your mind garden
Step 1: First, plant your mind garden with quality content. It must be thoughts that interest you, that stimulate you to think instead of distracting and scattering you.
Step 2: Nurture your thoughts. This cultivates your curiosity (your sprouts 🌱) from whose questions and ideas deeper knowledge can grow (your trees 🌳). Grow branches on your knowledge trees by taking notes. Short notes, long notes - it doesn't matter. It's more important that your mind garden grows continuously by writing down your thoughts.
Step 3: Over time, you'll find that you visit certain corners of your mind garden more often than others, and that's a good thing. Because that's how you develop your own perspectives and opinions (your fruits 🥭).
Ultimately, the point of your mind garden is that all the information you take in (your input) leads to more productivity and creativity (your output), instead of rotting in the backyard of your mind and being forgotten.