The Method
The Second Brain Method.
A 10-part field guide to working with AI like a colleague, not a vending machine — the file architecture, the rituals, and the guardrails that give an assistant real memory across every session.
Part 1
Stop Using AI Like a Vending Machine: The Shift From Tool to Colleague
Most people get almost nothing from AI because every chat starts from zero. Here's the one shift — persistent, structured memory — that turns an AI assistant into a colleague that actually remembers your work.
Read →Part 2
They Can Lay You Off. They Can't Lay Off How You Think.
I built a complete AI-powered working system at my job — then got laid off mid-build. Here's why the method survived the layoff, and why the systems you build for thinking are the most portable career asset you own.
Read →Part 3
How to Build an AI Second Brain: The Exact File Architecture
A step-by-step guide to the file architecture that gives an AI assistant real memory. The exact folders, the standing handoff, the session rituals, and the rules that keep it from turning into chaos.
Read →Part 4
The Anti-Branching Protocol: How to Run Multiple AI Chats Without Chaos
Working across several AI conversations at once quietly forks your single source of truth into contradictory versions. Here's the protocol that lets you run parallel AI chats without overwriting your own work.
Read →Part 5
The AI Capability Audit: Map What Your Tools Actually Do Before You Trust Them
Most frustration with AI comes from assuming a capability that isn't there — or missing one that is. Here's how to run a capability audit so you design around your tools' real limits instead of fighting them.
Read →Part 6
The Reconcile: How to Catch Work That Falls Through the Cracks
When requests arrive from chat, email, tickets, and trackers all at once, things get dropped. The reconcile is a periodic AI-powered sweep across every channel that surfaces what slipped — before it becomes a fire.
Read →Part 7
Draft Freely, Send Deliberately: How to Let AI Produce Real Work Safely
AI can draft your messages, documents, and slide decks — but one hard rule keeps it from embarrassing you. Here's the review gate that lets you delegate real deliverables without losing control of judgment.
Read →Part 8
Keeping AI Honest: How to Stop a Helpful Assistant From Becoming a Flattering One
Left unchecked, an AI assistant tells you what you want to hear. Here's how to demand honest framing, separate internal truth from external messaging, and keep your AI a truth-teller instead of a yes-machine.
Read →Part 9
When the Tools Fight Back: Why Tech Friction Isn't Your Fault — and How to Document It
The ticket system that auto-closes, the calendar invite that never syncs, the upload that fails for no reason. Tech friction is real and often not your fault. Here's why documenting it — with AI — protects you.
Read →Part 10
The Method Is Yours: Why Your Way of Working Is the Career Asset That Lasts
The projects you do for a company are temporary. The way of working you build while doing them is portable, compounding, and yours. Here's how to make your method a deliberate, layoff-proof career asset.
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