Unlock creative genius like da Vinci and Richard Feynman | Tiago Forte

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Oct 14, 2025

Tiago Forte, founder of Forte Labs and author of Building a Second Brain, shares insights on managing information overload. He introduces the CODE framework—Capture, Organize, Distill, Express—to build a personal knowledge system. Forte discusses the importance of choosing what to capture and the benefits of externalizing thoughts for productivity. He elaborates on transforming ideas through divergence and convergence, and emphasizes the growing need for second brain practices in an information-saturated world.

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INSIGHT

Information Overload And Attention Scarcity

We consume an inhuman amount of information daily, which creates a poverty of attention.
Tiago Forte argues we need filters and systems to protect scarce attention.

ANECDOTE

Commonplace Books Through History

Historical creatives kept commonplace books to collect quotes, recipes, sketches, and more over a lifetime.
Forte revisits da Vinci, John Locke, and Octavia Butler as examples of this practice.

INSIGHT

CODE: A Creative Workflow

The second brain is a personal knowledge-management system to capture and reuse ideas.
CODE — Capture, Organize, Distill, Express — maps the creative workflow into repeatable steps.

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Master creative thinking in 90 minutes, with expert Tiago Forte. It’s never been easier for us to obtain information in today’s digital age. But at the same time, it’s never been more difficult for us to organize, synthesize, and make sense of all that information we have at our fingertips. That’s why author Tiago Forte believes we need to build a “second brain,” or a personal system for knowledge management. To build up this system, Forte recommends using the CODE system: C for Capture, O for Organize, D for Distill, and E for Express. Forte elaborates on his idea of the second brain — and much, much more — in this wide-ranging Big Think interview. 0:00 Meet Tiago Forte 00:16 How much information do we consume? 4:37 Why did history’s great minds keep ‘commonplace books’? 9:58 What is the CODE framework? 12:16 How do we determine what is important to capture? 24:04 What are the benefits and limitations of capturing? 29:38 How do we organize what has been captured? 35:14 What is the distillation process? 38:05 What are the stages of expression? 44:26 How can we make the most out of CODE? 49:06 What are divergence and convergence? 1:01:29 When do we pivot between divergence and convergence? 1:06:32 Why are second brain practices important? 1:09:36 What is the future of second brains? 1:21:14 When should we start teaching second brain practices? 1:26:21 Can productivity and mindfulness coexist? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Tiago Forte: Tiago Forte is one of the world’s foremost experts on productivity. He has taught more than 20,000 people worldwide through his programs and writes and speaks on how technology can help knowledge workers revolutionize their personal effectiveness. Tiago’s online course, Building a Second Brain, has produced more than 5,000 graduates from over 70 countries. The course draws on his experience in academic disciplines such as information science, practical fields such as user experience design, and his work with top organizations and leaders in Silicon Valley. Tiago believes knowledge management is one of the most impactful skills in the world today, and his work is dedicated to making it accessible to individuals for the first time. In a previous life, he worked in microfinance in Latin America, served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, and consulted for large companies on product development in San Francisco. He lives in Long Beach, California, with his wife Lauren, son Caio, and dog Ximena. ----------------------------------------------- -------06:30-19

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