#14: Tools for Better Thinking with Google Engineer Juvoni Beckford

Hosted by Josh Gonsalves

8.24.2020

1 HR 43 MIN

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Episode Description

Josh and Juvoni talk about the bleeding edge of productivity and knowledge management tools and how to use these tools more effectively, ideas around combining multiple skills, better thinking & tools for thought, personal development ideas and habits, entrepreneurship and nocode tools, and discovering how systems in the world affect us during COVID-19.

About Juvoni Beckford:

Juvoni Beckford is Software Engineer at Google currently working on Google Maps, previously on Google Docs. He's a Community Builder & Writer in areas around Productivity, Personal Knowledge Management & Personal Development. He helps people explore ideas around combining multiple skills, better thinking & tools for thought, inner engineering healthy habits, and discovering how systems in the world affect us.

Connect with Juvoni on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/juvoni

Join the Personal Development Nerds Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pdnerds/

PDNerds discord server:

www.pdn.community

Juvoni's Book Recommendations on his site:

www.juvoni.com/books

Contact Juvoni at juvoni@hey.com

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Stalk Josh on the Internet

Juvoni worked on the Google Docs team
Juvoni currently works on the Google Maps team
Google's internal search and apps for employees
Google Earth VR
Juvoni talks about Google's pivot during COVID-19
Juvoni's story about growing up in tough conditions in the Bronx
Starting out as a tool-user across natural objects before electrical technology
The White-belt to Black-belt progression of tool usage
Evernote as an example of the blackbelt progression
Notion
Saving and filtering different types of content from the internet
Thinking of yourself as less of a "note-taker" and more of a "thinker who uses note-taking to help with the thinking process"
Better tools for thought
Taking notes in multi-media forms (text, audio, photos, video notes)
Having multiple notebooks around the house to make it accessible wherever you are in your home
Physical vs. digital note-taking
Drafting emails and social media responses in Evernote so you don't get distracted by incoming emails
Notion is great with structured information
The PARA Method — organizing your work in projects, areas, resources and archives.
Database normalization — reducing duplication across databases and making sure your tables don't get too wide or too deep
Collaborating / brain-syncing
Solo-user vs. collaborator tools
Tiago Forte's Building a Second Brain Course
A level beyond black-belt — the red belt
Red belt = building the tool with software development skills
Nocode tools = abstractions around code
Josh learned the database model through Webflow's CMS databases
Juvoni recommends looking into introductory computer science courses to learn more about databases
Database Schema Design to learn more about data management, fields, properties and attributes
The theatre metaphor for understanding databases
Connecting tools
Juvoni sees picking a a productivity app like dating
Connecting Nocode tools to build an MVP, find product-market fit, and lower the barrier to entry
The downsides to Nocode tools
The categories of Nocode projects currently being launched
CRUD apps — Create, read, update, delete
Expontential growth in Software as a Serivce (SaaS) apps
The Millionaire Fastlane book by MJ Demarco
Mind Meld episode with James Jani
Being competitive by building a portfolio of products
Startup School by Y Combinator
Juvoni was able to get into college because of the [HEOP program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_Education_Opportunity_Program#:~:text=Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program,as African Americans and Hispanics.) that funded his schooling
Juvoni worked at S&P on Wall St.
Juvoni runs a Burning Man camp
Junvoni runs a Personal Development community called PD Nerds
Juvoni is a facilitator for a software engineering mastermind called Dev Color
Juvoni's website and blog
How Juvoni uses his software tools:
Notion to organize his projects
Roam Research to organize and connect sporadic thoughts
Evernote to capture written notes and emails
Pocket to save articles to read later and highlight
RescueTime to track his time online
TickTick to manage his tasks
The Hedgehog and the Fox fable
The paradigm shift during COVID that accelerated digital technology
Juvoni predicts the world will have another big Great Depression before the end of the year
The Stock Market being its own game with its own rules
Juvoni says you cannot use the economy to predict how the stock market will move
Juvoni categorizes himself as a rational optimist
Juvoni predicts a few key areas in the world that will be accelerated in the next 5-10 years
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a spiritual opportunity to people at home
Mindvalley
Daily journaling practice
Empathy Journal — writing about other peoples' stories to train yourself to become a better listener
750words.com
Morning Pages
The Artists Way book
Daylio app for mood tracking
Micro-journaling
Personal annual performance review / audit where Juvoni asks himself: What went well, what didn't go well, what am I working on improving, what am I reducing or doing less of, and what am I working towards?
Juvoni goes through Google Photos and picks two photos per month that describes the month
To work on his vulnerablity, Juvoni ended up sharing his journal entries publicly on his blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
Juvoni describes his experience going through depression in 2016
Juvoni binged the Berserk Manga during his depression
Juvoni share his wisdom on how to navigate depression and find the sunshine among the clouds
Personal Development Nerds Facebook group
We talk about the Self-Development Culture and Industry
Tim Ferriss
Tony Robbins
Juvoni's approach to personal development
Stoic Philosophy (Stoicism)
Zen Buddhism
Mindfulness
Zettelkasten Method of Note-taking
How to Take Smarter Notes book
Evergreen Notes
Check out Juvoni on Twitter to see who he follows
Hacker News
Community-building tools will be the next big frontier
The Future is Faster Than You Think book
Bold and Abundance books

Thanks for coming this far! if you're reading this, it is no accident. The universe brought you to this corner of the internet for a reason, and you're on the right track. I already know that you're an amazing person and I can't wait to connect with you!

— Josh

Episode Transcript

Josh Gonsalves

Mind Meld Podcast Host

Hi, I'm Josh Gonsalves, the host and producer of Mind Meld. I'm also a Canadian Academy Award-nominated director and Co-founder of Contraverse, an immersive media company. I'm a multi-media experience designer living and working in Toronto, operating at the intersection of design and exponential technologies to develop solutions that change the world for the better.