Between Gmail, Google Preserve, and random chat threads, I believed I had a fairly good deal with on my emails and conversations.
Nevertheless, after I fed this mess into NotebookLM, I noticed simply how a lot I used to be lacking.
It remembered context, grouped associated concepts, and even answered oddly particular questions corresponding to, “What are the principle initiatives I’ve been speaking about this month?”
Right here is how I arrange NotebookLM to make sense of my emails and texts, and why it modified the best way I take into consideration managing info overload.
Gathering collectively all my sources
Step one was to gather information from the 4 locations I exploit most: Gmail, Google Preserve, WhatsApp, and Google Messages.
Emails
I began with emails, which had been surprisingly simple to wrangle.
I exported a batch of key threads from Gmail associated to undertaking discussions, shopper updates, and private back-and-forth.
To reserve it as a PDF, open an electronic mail, click on the printer icon on the high, and choose Save as PDF subsequent to Vacation spot.
Google Preserve notes
Subsequent was Google Preserve, which I exported by opening every observe I wished to incorporate and pasting it right into a single textual content file.
You too can use Google Takeout for this, however I discovered handbook curation sooner once I solely wanted 10 or so notes.
Messages and chats
For Google Messages, I did not attempt to export every little thing.
As a substitute, I opened a number of key conversations, copied the related components (corresponding to ongoing plans or undertaking follow-ups), and dropped them into Google Docs. I named it Messages abstract earlier than importing it as a supply.
Alternatively, you need to use a third-party app corresponding to SMS Backup & Restore.
First, take a backup of your messages and put it aside in your telephone. Go to View Backups and choose a dialog. Faucet the three-dot menu icon and choose Print dialog > Save as PDF.
I additionally included conversations from WhatsApp since I exploit it incessantly. I exported a bunch chat with my closest buddies utilizing the app’s built-in Export chat possibility.
To export a WhatsApp dialog, open the chat, faucet the three-dot menu icon, faucet Extra, and choose Export chat.
Analyzing convoluted electronic mail threads
Utilizing NotebookLM for immediate recaps
I uploaded a PDF of an extended thread from a undertaking crew that had carried on with out me whereas I used to be on vacation.
Once I acquired again, the thread had dozens of replies and last-minute adjustments buried deep in replies I hadn’t learn.
As a substitute of scrolling endlessly to catch up, I requested NotebookLM to summarize what the crew members had determined whereas I used to be away and spotlight any pending duties or open questions.
Inside seconds, it produced a neatly structured abstract.
Making sense of my Google Preserve notes
NotebookLM is ideal for evaluation
My Google Preserve is a multitude of e book notes, grocery lists, to-do objects, and random ideas.
It is superb for fast seize, however horrible once I really need to search out one thing. So I uploaded a handful of notes to NotebookLM to see what it may make of them.
I requested NotebookLM: What recurring themes do you see in these notes? It grouped related ideas, like concepts for simplifying my digital setup, recurring mentions of time blocking, and quotes I would saved from articles about productiveness.
Now, when my Preserve notes begin piling up, I do not hassle organizing them manually. I copy them into NotebookLM and let it summarize the content material.
What my conversations revealed
When NotebookLM met my WhatsApp chats
For enjoyable, I exported an extended WhatsApp group chat with my buddies.
I wished to see how NotebookLM would interpret one thing casual and unstructured.
Initially, I inquired about primary matters corresponding to the principle themes of the chat and who texts essentially the most. However then I went one step additional and gave it a extra playful immediate:
Primarily based on the WhatsApp group chat, describe our group dynamic as a actuality present narrator.
The response was hilarious and surprisingly correct.
NotebookLM described one good friend because the “resident voice of cause,” one other because the “wry humorist,” and me because the “popular culture translator.” It even recognized operating jokes and recurring plans we by no means adopted by means of on.
However not every little thing was correct. Generally it over-interpreted jokes or misinterpret sarcasm.
Nonetheless, as a lighthearted experiment, it was one of the crucial entertaining methods I’ve used NotebookLM but.
The place NotebookLM falls brief
It has a number of tough edges
Regardless of the intriguing insights it supplied, NotebookLM has some limitations.
NotebookLM excels at summarizing info and threads, nevertheless it typically overlooks nuance, corresponding to sarcasm in a bunch chat or emotional tone in an electronic mail thread.
Once I requested it to explain my group chat dynamic like a actuality present narrator, it nailed the humor, however its summaries of great threads typically flattened the that means.
Whereas NotebookLM is designed for cross-referencing concepts, formatting information and supply limitations might be irritating.
PDFs, plain textual content paperwork, and Google Docs are all acceptable codecs, however incorporating exports from apps like Messages requires extra effort.
NotebookLM helped join the dots
Once I first uploaded my emails and chats to NotebookLM, I hoped to obtain neat summaries.
As a substitute, it went additional and clearly outlined my communication patterns, which had been each fascinating and barely uncomfortable.
NotebookLM supplied insights that I might not have been capable of compile by myself. It linked notes to outdated emails, retrieving forgotten follow-ups and highlighting recurring themes.
Nevertheless, it was not flawless. Generally, it drew odd connections or misinterpret context in informal conversations.
Nonetheless, as a technique to lower by means of the noise and see the larger image, it’s simply one of the crucial helpful instruments I’ve tried in years.