OtiumFM

In this episode, we talk with Ali Abdaal, a Cambridge university medicine graduate, a former doctor in the UK National Health Service and a prolific YouTuber, making videos about life as a medical student, productivity tips, tech, Roam Research, Notion and more. We talked about: Ali's note-taking origin story: From storing notes on close-up magic to seduction, medicine and now book notes His information capture workflow, using Evernote, Notion and Roam for specific uses. Why Ali thinks he is not a creative person Defining creativity from remixing content as opposed to originality Pursuing the perfect note-taking app, and the similarities between note-taking apps and marriage and content creation, as well as the value that we can provide to others who we are trying to help defining the perfect note taking app. Ali talks to me about the similarities between a note taking app and marriage. Enjoy! Timestamps +1:09 1:09 Life after 9-5 3:09 Fulfillment from creative work 5:21 Ali Abdaal's note-taking origin story 8:09 When Building a Second Brain came into play 9:30 "It was as if this guy was speaking to my very soul" 10:18 Ali doesn't use PARA at all 12:44 What is a project? Ali's use case as a YouTuber 14:13 Evernote as a base for long-term memory 15:53 Ali Abdaal's fluid information capture workflow 17:17 Discovering Roam and the $250,000 missed opportunity 19:17 Roam is unsatisfying so far, and the Nibble Framework 21:49 How productive does Ali Abdaal want to become? 25:00 What is enough? How much money is enough? 26:46 "I'm not creative at all. I don't think I have any original ideas" 30:46 Creativity does not come from originality 33:40 First-brain breakthroughs and how Roam encourages that to happen 35:13 We have observed X, therefore we think Y 38:20 The flaw behind Roam Research, and Notion vs. Roam 39:45 Roam vs. Notion followers on Ali Abdaal's YouTube channel 40:23 Drafting a video: The Perfect Note-taking App 41:27 There is no such thing as a soulmate 43:43 Different people are attracted to different personalities 46:43 Getting divorced is messy and expensive 48:25 Meaningless sex with lots of people is unfulfilling 51:41 Polyamorous note-taking relationships 53:34 Why all these note-taking apps aren't competing against each other 55:29 Labeling is simplifying and dangerous 59:11 What system do I want? How do I know this app fits me? 1:02:30 Talking with a creator vs. a consumer 1:05:27 How does Ali handle parasocial interactions? 1:06:23 Repeated value is value nonetheless 1:08:21 Repeated vs. Original vs. Spontaneous value 1:10:42 The Table of Contents Notes Game 1:12:50 What Ali Abdaal would like to see from Roam 1:19:40 Ali doesn't think about Motivation 1:21:41 Editing our respective podcasts 1:27:35 What Norman does 1:29:18 How I explain myself to family 1:30:56 [[How would you describe Roam to someone who hasn't started using it?]] 1:32:07 [[What does Roam mean to you?]] Links Ali Abdaal's Twitter Ali Abdaal's YouTube Channel Ali Abdaal's Instagram