Building a Second Brain: Start Here

New here? This is where to begin. Learn the core ideas behind Building a Second Brain — the proven method for saving and organizing your best ideas so you can use them when it matters. No apps required, just start watching. Ready to go deeper? Check out our free newsletter: https://bit.ly/4ttx4SK

Curated by: Tiago Forte (21 videos)


Currently Playing: Ali Abdaal's $3M YouTube Second Brain REVEALED!

Want to build your own Second Brain? Get Tiago's full system here: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/foundation We talked with Ali Abdaal about the Idea Factory he used to build a team of 20 employees & a 3+ million subscriber YouTube channel. This is a detailed walkthrough of the four steps of Ali's Second Brain process, where his notes go, and the specific apps he uses every day. 📲 Get the CODE Quickstart Guide: https://fortelabs.ck.page/b0c4d2241a 📝 Pick Your First Notes App (4-part series): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dDVtJ2sec 📗 BUY THE BUILDING A SECOND BRAIN BOOK: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/book CHAPTERS: 00:00 Inside Ali’s Second Brain 00:27 Step 1: CAPTURE (CODE) 00:42 Notebook (Capture Physical Notes, Morning Pages) 00:57 Apple Notes (Capture Offline Notes) 01:34 Readwise (Capture Book & Article Notes) 01:43 Kindle (Capture Book Notes) 01:45 Instapaper (Capture Articles) 01:49 Reader (Capture Articles) 01:58 Day One (Capture Journaling) 02:15 Todoist (Capture Tasks) 02:20 Otter (Capture Audio) 02:45 CleanShot X (Capture Screenshots, Gifs, Video) 03:11 Ali: "You need to combine your capturing and your organizing" 04:08 Apple Notes (Capture catch-all notes storage) 04:15 Roam Research (Capture daily notes - catch-all notes storage) 04:58 Ali's Second Brain (Capture Overview) 05:33 Step 2: ORGANIZE (CODE) 06:02 Notion (Organize YouTube Video Planning) 06:09 Apple Notes (Organize Book Notes + Chapter Structures) 06:38 Roam Research (Organize Book Drafts) 07:08 Notion (Organize Content Production Engine) 07:34 Readwise (Organize content by routing into Roam Research) 08:18 Organizing notes by searchability 08:44 Ali: "Let Chaos Reign, Then Reign in Chaos" 08:58 Step 3: DISTILL (CODE) 09:46 3 Step Progress (Distill for YouTube Videos) 10:11 Notion (Distill - How to Get Started With Investing) 10:26 Distill (Ali's Reading Notes Vs Ali's Content Created in the Past) 11:04 Roam Research (Distill YouTube ideas via search function) 11:35 Tiago: "You don't need to do new research" 12:01 Step 4: EXPRESS (CODE) 12:28 Apple Notes (Express Quick Notes) 12:49 Notion (Express Scripts) 13:35 Ali: "I'm not a huge fan of PARA" 14:01 Apple Notes (Express YouTube Planning) 14:25 Ali's Second Brain (Express Overview) 15:06 Notion (YouTube title character counter) 16:10 Ali's Second Brain (CODE Overview) 16:16 FREE CODE Quickstart Guide 16:26 Start Taking Notes Now! 16:30 Outro ---------------------- 💌 Join our weekly newsletter for more productivity tips and resources https://fortelabs.com/subscribe/ 📚ORDER MY BEST-SELLING BOOKS 🧠 Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/book 📂The PARA Method: Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/para 👩‍🎓 TAKE MY SELF-PACED COURSES 1️⃣ Pillars of Productivity: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/pop 2️⃣ BASB Foundation: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/foundation 🤓 TEST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIAL Take our Productivity Pulse Check to evaluate your daily habits and find out where you can make improvements. Take the quiz now: https://fortelabs.typeform.com/pulsecheck?utm_source=youtube 👋 CONNECT WITH ME 📬 My weekly newsletter: https://fortelabs.com/subscribe 👩‍💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiagoforte/ 🌐 My website: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/ 💌 My blog: https://fortelabs.com/blog/ 🐦‍⬛ X: http://x.com/fortelabs 🟦 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fortelabs 🤳Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortelabsco/


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