Second Brain

Master Your Second Brain: Part 2 - How to Use the CODE Technique

Unlock the power of Tiago Forte's CODE method and organize your second brain for better productivity using the Web Highlights Chrome Extension

Marius Bongarts

Oct 20, 2024 • 8 min read

In the the first part of this Second Brain article series, we learned how Tiago Forte’s PARA method can help us collect and manage digital information more effectively.

In this article, we’ll dive into a method introduced by Tiago Forte called the ‘CODE’ technique, which helps us to build up our second brain and to make the information we collect more useful for us in the future.

To put it simply: The ‘CODE’ technique ensures that we understand our own, often cluttered, notes in the future.

But before we get into how the CODE technique works, let’s quickly recap what a Second Brain is.

What is a Second Brain?

When I first began reading “Building a Second Brain,” I thought it was just another method for organizing my digital life, so I didn’t expect much from it. To my surprise, Tiago Forte really changed my perspective on how I manage my digital world.

Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. — David Allen (Author of Gettings Things Done)

The main idea of using a “Second Brain” is to organize your information by actionability rather than by topic.

💡 Example: Instead of placing an internet bill into a general invoices folder, you would put it into “Taxes 2024” so that it’s readily available when you need it.

Another advantage is that having a “Second Brain” lets your “First Brain” focus more on creativity, rather than struggling to remember everything.

💡 Example: Instead of keeping track of all the project details yourself, you can store them in your second brain and use your mental energy for brainstorming new ideas.

What is the CODE Technique?

The ‘CODE’ technique is an easy four-step method, by Tiago Forte, that helps us manage the overwhelming amount of information we encounter daily.

CODE is a proven process for consistently turning the information you consume into creative output and concrete results. — fortelabs.com

Simply put: The ‘CODE’ technique ensures that we can make sense of our often cluttered notes in the future.

What does CODE Stand For?

The CODE technique is an acronym that stands for four essential steps, with each letter representing a specific action.

Here’s what CODE stands for:

Capture: Keep what resonates
Organize: Save for actionability
Distill: Find the essence
Express: Show your work

Following these four steps, we can efficiently capture, organize, distill, and express our ideas, ensuring that our digital second brain remains a valuable resource rather than a cluttered mess.

Our notes are things to use, not just things to collect. — Tiago Forte

This technique not only helps us stay clear-minded but also frees up mental space, letting us focus more on creativity and productivity.

Let’s look closely at each step:

1. Capture: Keep What Resonates

The first step is capturing ideas and insights that are noteworthy.

The main idea of this step is to eliminate the worry of forgetting something and free up our minds for more creative tasks.

This process shouldn’t require much mental effort. Tiago emphasizes this step with the slogan “Keep What Resonates,” highlighting that it’s not about spending a lot of time or energy analyzing what to keep.

In deciding which passages, images, theories, or quotes to keep, don’t make it a highly intellectual, analytical decision. — fortelabs.com

Don’t overcomplicate things in this step. Just capture it and save anything that “resonates” with you intuitively!

💡 Example: You come across an interesting article but don’t have time to read it thoroughly right now. Instead, you can use a web clipper to save the page to your reading list or highlight important sections with a web highlighter so you can return to it later.

2. Organize: Save for Actionability

After capturing content, it’s important to organize it efficiently.

As we learned from the PARA-Method, the Second Brain framework suggests organizing our content for actionability.

What does that mean?

For decades, computers have taught us to organize everything in a folder hierarchy. So it is tempting for many to stick with it.

Still, it would be much better to focus on what we currently need information for. That’s why we should rather structure our information into active projects.

💡 Example: If you want to save an invoice, instead of just putting it in a folder called "Invoices," place it in the project where it will actually be used, like "Tax Report 2024." That way, it'll be right where you need it when it's time to do your taxes.

3. Distill: Find the Essence

The third step of the ‘CODE’ method is to distill. This means turning the content we’ve captured into a clear message by removing what’s unnecessary and focusing on the key points.

Lao Tzu said, “To gain wisdom, remove things every day.” Like summarizing in school, we cut out the fluff and keep only what’s important.

Forte calls this Progressive Summarization: highlight the key ideas, then highlight the highlights, layer by layer, making it easier to understand later.

Think of it like preparing your notes for your busy future self — focus only on the essentials to make them quick and easy to use.

💡 Example: After taking notes on a long article, instead of leaving them as-is, you go through and highlight the main points. Then, you review those highlights and further narrow them down to the essential takeaways. Now, when you come back later, you only see the most important ideas, saving you time and effort.

4. Express: Show your Work

The last part of the ‘CODE’ technique is to express and show your work to others.

Forte believes that we all have a natural desire to create — to bring something good, true, or beautiful into the world. He says it’s one of the most fulfilling things we can do, and it also positively impacts others by inspiring, entertaining, or educating them.

The word “productivity” comes from the Latin verb producere, meaning “to produce.”

So, don’t let your knowledge, notes, or ideas go to waste. Turn them into something actionable and create something valuable.

💡 Example: Instead of just reading the Second Brain book by Tiago Forte, I turned my notes and highlights into an article. This not only added value for others but also helped me better understand the book’s content.

Using Web Highlights with the CODE Technique

The PDF & Web Highlighter Chrome Extension, Web Highlights, is the perfect tool for using the CODE technique.

Web Highlights - PDF & Web Highlighter

With over 100,000 users in the Google Chrome Store, it's popular for its simple approach. Here’s how it can help you with each of the four steps of the CODE technique.

1. Capture: Highlight Websites & PDFs

In the capture phase of the CODE-method, we focus on simply adding content to our second brain so that we don’t need to remember it.

Web Highlights is perfect for this as you can easily highlight any website or PDF in your browser. You can choose from different colors, take notes, and organize your highlights with tags.

💡 Example: You find an interesting article on a website but aren’t sure how it might be useful later. To save it for future reference, you highlight the important parts and store it in your Web Highlights collection, knowing you can easily find it whenever you need it.

2. Organize: Use Tags to Organize Research

Web Highlights allows you to create tags and take notes, making it easy to sort your highlights into Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives.

For instance, I recently wrote an article about Web Components. I searched for sources on the Internet and marked text passages from articles using Web Highlights. I tagged them with “project + Web Components Article” and could easily find all the crucial details I needed in one spot.

💡 Example: If you’re working on a project, you can highlight important information with Web Highlights and add tags like “project + [project name]” or “area + [area name]”. Later, you can filter for those tags to find all related content. This makes it incredibly easy to keep your research organized and accessible.

3. Distill: Use formatted highlighting and export features

In the distill step of the CODE method, the goal is to make the content we’ve captured more useful for the future.

Formatted Highlighting with Web Highlights

Web Highlights is great for this because it lets you easily use the Progressive Highlighting technique directly within the tool. With the advanced highlighting mode, you can format your highlights as headings, bullet points, or quotes, making it easier to distill the essence of your notes.

This structured approach helps you focus on the key points and makes your notes more readable and organized.

💡 Example: After highlighting key points in an article, use the advanced highlighting mode to format the most important sentences as headings or bullet points. This not only makes your notes visually appealing but also ensures that when you revisit them, you can quickly grasp the essential information without wading through unnecessary details.

The final step of the ‘CODE’ technique is to express your work by making it useful for others.

In Web Highlights, your content is private by default, but you can choose to share it. By doing so, you can post an interesting article to our discover feed and share your highlights to inspire others.

💡 Example: You’ve read a fascinating article and highlighted insightful sections using the advanced formatting options. With Web Highlights, you can share this page to our discover feed. This not only helps others benefit from your research but also reinforces your understanding by teaching others.

Thanks for reading! I hope Tiago Forte’s CODE-Method helps you make organizing your Second Brain more helpful.

With over 140,000 users and an average rating of 4.8 stars in the Google Chrome Store, Web Highlights makes digital organization simple. It’s free to use, and no account is required. You can install it here.