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Welcome to Second Brain — a connected system for capturing ideas, running projects, and reviewing progress. This guide covers setup, the daily workflow, how every number is calculated, and how to make the system yours.

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Getting started

1. Duplicate the template into your workspace. All databases, templates, views, and the dashboard come along automatically.
2. Open each database from the Navigation section at the bottom of the home page and skim the demo records — they show what a healthy system looks like.
3. When you're ready, delete the demo records (see "Removing the demo data" below). The templates stay; nothing breaks when records are removed.

Plan requirement: the Dashboard page is built from standard views — nothing requires Business or Enterprise. Charts are unlimited on any paid plan; the Free plan includes only one chart per workspace, so Free users should upgrade to display the full dashboard. Databases, tables, formulas, and templates work on every plan.

The eight databases

• Areas — ongoing responsibilities with no finish line (health, business, audience). Each has a Purpose and a Standard to Maintain.
• Goals — specific outcomes with a Target Date and Success Criteria, each linked to one Area.
• Projects — finite efforts that move goals forward. Link one Area and optionally one Goal.
• Tasks — every actionable step. Capture in the Inbox, clarify to Next, and record Completed On when done.
• Notes — your thinking: ideas, working notes, meeting notes, and distilled summaries.
• Resources — external material worth processing: books, articles, courses, videos.
• Topics — reusable subjects that connect notes and resources across everything.
• Reviews — weekly, monthly, or quarterly reflections that produce follow-up tasks.

The weekly workflow

1. Capture — drop tasks into the Tasks Inbox and ideas into the Notes Inbox. Don't organize yet.
2. Clarify — process inboxes: give tasks a status, priority, due date, and project; give notes a type and topics.
3. Execute — work from Next Actions and the dashboard's Due This Week table. Overdue items surface automatically.
4. Review — run a Weekly review from the Reviews database. Look at goals and projects, then create follow-up tasks directly from the review page.