What It Means
A second brain is a personal, digital collection of the notes, ideas and sources you want to keep, organized so you can find them later and use them. The term comes from Tiago Forte's method, Building a Second Brain, which describes it as an external, centralized, digital store for what you learn and where you learned it. His method runs on four steps he calls CODE: Capture, Organize, Distill and Express.
Try It: Slide Through the Four CODE Steps
Move the slider through Tiago Forte's four CODE steps.
Save the ideas and sources worth keeping.
File them where you'll find them, using PARA.
Boil each note down to the part that matters.
Use what you saved in your own work.
How People Say It
- "It's in my second brain somewhere."
- "I'm building a second brain in my notes app."
- "Capture it now, I'll organize it later."
The Breakdown
The four CODE steps
- Capture. Save the ideas, quotes and sources that strike you, in one place.
- Organize. File what you've saved where you'll find it. Forte's system for this is the PARA MethodPARA methodTiago Forte's system for organizing notes and files into four folders: Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives. See more: Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives.
- Distill. Shorten each note to the part you'd actually need.
- Express. Put what you've gathered to use in something you make or decide.
Short version to try today. Choose one notes app and one current project. Save three things you read this week that relate to it, each in a note titled with a short phrase, and file all three together.
A second brain next to older note systems
| System | Organized by |
|---|---|
| Second brain (Tiago Forte) | Projects, areas, resources and archives (PARA) |
| Commonplace bookCommonplace bookA personal notebook of passages, quotations and ideas copied from what you read, filed under topic headings so you can find and reuse them. See more | Topic headings |
| ZettelkastenZettelkastenA note system, German for "slip box", where each idea gets its own numbered note linked to related notes; made famous by sociologist Niklas Luhmann. See more (Niklas Luhmann) | Numbered notes linked to each other |
Where It Comes From
Tiago Forte, founder of Forte Labs, developed Building a Second Brain and teaches it through Forte Labs and buildingasecondbrain.com. Forte Labs calls PARA the implementation guide for a second brain, meaning the part that sets out how the notes are filed.
Good to Know
Start with what you're working on now. Forte's PARA system puts active projects at the top, so notes you save today have an obvious home. A second brain holds reference and ideas; deadlines and tasks still belong in a task listTo-do listA written list of the tasks you plan to do, checked or crossed off as each one is finished. See more or calendar where you'll see them on the day.
FAQ
What does CODE stand for in Building a Second Brain?
Capture, Organize, Distill and Express, the four steps of Tiago Forte's method.
What is the difference between a second brain and PARA?
A second brain is the whole collection of notes and the method for using it. PARA is Forte's system for organizing it into Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives.
Which app do I need for a second brain?
Forte's method describes a digital store for your notes, so any notes app you'll use every day can hold one. The steps matter more than the app.
Do It in Buhata
Notes
Make a note in Notes (Premium) in Buhata for each project you're working on, and save ideas and sources into it as you come across them.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- PARA method
Tiago Forte's system for organizing notes and files into four folders: Projects, Areas, Resources and Archives.
- Zettelkasten
A note system, German for "slip box", where each idea gets its own numbered note linked to related notes; made famous by sociologist Niklas Luhmann.
- Commonplace book
A personal notebook of passages, quotations and ideas copied from what you read, filed under topic headings so you can find and reuse them.
- Note-taking methods
The common ways to lay out notes from a class, meeting or reading, such as the Cornell, outline, mapping, charting and sentence methods.
- Getting Things Done
David Allen's productivity system, from his book Getting Things Done, for capturing everything on your mind and deciding the next action on each item.
Sources
Forte Labs, "Building a Second Brain: The Definitive Introductory Guide"; Forte Labs, "The PARA Method: The Simple System for Organizing Your Digital Life in Seconds"; Building a Second Brain (buildingasecondbrain.com); Forte Labs, "12 Steps to Build a Second Brain"
- fortelabs.com/blog/basboverview
- fortelabs.com/blog/para
- www.buildingasecondbrain.com
- fortelabs.com/blog/12-steps-to-build-a-second-brain
Last updated .