Every year, I set a reading goal in Goodreads. This past year was embarrassing. I wondered how I fell so short of my goal.
But in reality, I consume a lot of content. I love listening to podcasts and reading articles. My lifestyle has changed a lot as I've gotten older, and short content fits better into my day. I decided that I shouldn't be embarrassed—I should give myself credit for the type of content I consume instead of books.
When I diligently kept track of my books on Goodreads, I'd always add the date read, a star rating, and a review, so I'd remember later how I liked the book. I've used that information a lot over the years, like when friends ask me for recommendations. So why not do the same with the shorter content I enjoy these days?
Here's how to set up a system to track all the important content you've consumed.
Create a tracking system for your content
Your tracking system doesn't need to be overly complex, and you can rely on a tool you're already comfortable with. If you don't have a tool in mind, I recommend Notion (best for pairing it with lots of text), Google Sheets (best for simple data, not as many notes), or Airtable (a mix of the two).
You'll want to create a database or spreadsheet, with fields you think would be important later. I set up mine with the following:
Title
Author/creator
Date consumed
URL
Content type (e.g., article, podcast, video, book, movie)
Category
Topics covered
Here's an example of what this could look like in Notion. (If you consume content from the same creators a lot, you may want to make Author/Creator a select field, so you can filter more easily.)
In Goodreads, I have broad categories for my books—things like Fiction, Fantasy, Food, and Business. I categorize my content in similarly broad categories, like Educational or Commentary. I also have a Topics column, to break down my content beyond the broad categories. It's a multi-select field, so I can add multiple topics.
You can make a copy of my Notion template (it's simple, but it works!), or if you're looking for something a little more complex, take a look at Ellie Huizenga's Notion reading list template.
Add content regularly
In the time it takes me to consume one book, I might consume 10, 20, or 100 pieces of content. So the tracking looks a lot different. You'll want to create a process for adding content to your tracking system if you want to rely on it later as an accurate representation of what you consumed.
There are plenty of ways you can streamline your content tracking, especially for digital content
Read-it-later apps like Pocket can bookmark links, either from your browser or on a mobile device.
The Zapier Chrome extension can save URLs to Google Sheets (along with whatever other information you add to it).
In podcast apps, you can "Save episode" and review your list later.
Zapier integrates with Spotify, so you could keep track of what you've played.
There are also times when I've just taken a simple screenshot on my phone, if I don't have a better way. I'll add the screenshot to a folder in the Dropbox app and then review the screenshots later.
Add notes about your content
Do I remember the details of a book I read ten years ago? Nope. That's why I'd always add reviews to Goodreads, to refresh my memory later.
I try to do the same with my content tracking by adding notes. But in some cases, I take shortcuts, like highlighting sections of an article or a podcast transcript, rather than typing out my own thoughts about the article. The point is to jog my memory about the content.
Notion makes it really easy to turn each line item into a page. When you click on the title, you can open a full page view. Then you can add notes directly to the page, or create a template.
You might also use an app like Readwise (a Chrome extension). On any webpage, you can right-click and select Save Highlight to Readwise.
Your Readwise highlights can sync to external sources, like Notion, Roam Research, Evernote, and Google Docs.
I do this with articles I read and podcasts I listen to (using the transcript)—I find it's much easier than taking notes. If I'm watching a YouTube video, I'll highlight the description with Readwise, so I remember the context.
Put your content tracking and notes to use
In the book Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte, he writes, "Think of yourself not just as a taker of notes, but as a giver of notes—you are giving your future self the gift of knowledge that is easy to find and understand."
I take the steps to track the content I consume, add notes, and sync my highlights because I use the information again. I'll be talking with a friend and think, "Oh, I read a great article about this topic. Let me find it and share it." Or I'll keep track of content on related topics over time. But this relies heavily on my own system of categorizing and tagging my notes.
AI is starting to be able to assist more. Apps like Mem, NotebookLM, and Notion AI Q&A can help you find related notes, so you don't have to do as much manual tagging. I'm looking forward to a day when that feels more like a second brain, maybe even uncovering related content that I hadn't considered.
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