outside your mind, inside your...

the mind is bigger than you think

Hey You,

We’ve covered the systems — how to build a Second Brain, organize it with PARA, and design a workflow that fits how you actually function.

Today, we will tackle this question:

What if your “mind” isn’t just in your head?

That’s the central thread in Tiago Forte’s Extend Your Mind, the second volume in his Praxis series.

He draws from neuroscience, philosophy, personal experiments, and productivity to make a simple case:

Your environment — digital, physical, emotional — is part of how you think.

1. Your Mind Is a Network

One of Tiago’s essays, Supersizing the Mind, unpacks this idea.

Drawing on cognitive science, he explains how tools like notebooks, checklists, folders, and reminders aren’t just helpers.

They are:

  • extensions of your memory

  • decision-making tools

  • problem-solvers

If you’ve ever had a breakthrough because of something you saw in your notes, you’ve already experienced this.

The takeaway: investing in your environment is investing in your mind.

2. Attention Is Not Just Mental

In another essay, The Topology of Attention, Tiago argues that our focus isn’t just shaped by willpower — it’s shaped by context.

A few questions he invites us to consider:

  • What do you place in your line of sight when working?

  • What does your phone do the second you open it?

  • What’s in your digital “front row” — open tabs, pinned folders, tools?

These choices form a geography of attention shaping our outcomes.

3. You Can Unlearn on Purpose

Tiago explores the idea that learning isn’t just about adding new knowledge. It’s about releasing outdated thinking — and that often happens in altered states, intense experiences, or high-contrast environments.

The good news? You don’t need to wait for a crisis.

You can design conditions that help you shed what no longer serves you:

  • Reflective reviews

  • Working in sprints

  • Taking intentional breaks from default workflows

  • Exposing yourself to unfamiliar ideas and people

All of this becomes a way to evolve — not just in skill, but in how you think.

If Second Brain and PARA are the “what” and “how,” this book is about the why underneath it all.

To extend your mind is to reclaim authorship over your inputs, your workspace, and your identity as a learner.

It’s not about doing more. It’s about becoming someone new — on purpose.

Until next time,
Piotr

P.S. Want a simple way to extend your mind?

Just change where you start your day. A different tab, a different folder, a different question. It’s enough to break old loops and create space for new thinking.