Using the “Second Brain” Approach to Become a Better Content Creator

Unlock the full potential of your creative brain by embracing an entirely new approach.

Content creation is not a profession for the weak. There’re no days off and everything you do, in some way, is some type of research. Your brain is always going, always scanning the environment around you for answers, questions, and ideas. It can feel overwhelming. Especially when you’re facing a deadline or are overwhelmed with major projects.

Once you’re in the trenches of content creation, organization becomes a must. That organization can feel like a luxury, however, when you’re juggling dozens of assets, a daunting pile of resources, and more than one project or task that you have to face.

A digital organizational system has to come into focus so that we, as content creators, can do what we do best: create, create, create. Enter the “second brain” approach. Invented by one of the biggest digital masterminds out there, it’s the perfect way to get yourself set up to become a more productive and successful content creator.

What is the second brain approach?

It sounds corny, but the second brain approach is actually a brilliant way to organize yourself if you’re facing a web of projects, ideas, or targets that you’re having a hard time operating in-between.

Developed by Tiago Forte, the “second brain” approach gives creatives a way to organize their content and ideas. The Forte Labs creator realized he needed a methodology to structure his thoughts and the millions of tiny pieces of the creative process. So he set out to create something which could empower all creatives.

There’s nothing ethereal to the process. The second brain is a literal digital space — on your phone, computer, or tablet — in which you create and store all the distinct elements of your creative process. If you’re a writer, a painter, a digital designer, the second brain can help you rein in the chaos and more elegantly bring together the pieces of your desired creations.

How to build your second brain.

Sounds nebulous, right? It’s not. Creating a second brain for your next project is straightforward. There are 4 elements involved: capture, organize, distill, express. By using these building blocks (also known as CODE) we can more efficiently structure our creative process and boost our productivity as content creators.

Capture

To get started, you must figure out how you want to set up your second brain and where you want to set it up. Everyone has a different digital approach. For the writer, you may choose to stitch your second brain together with tools which can operate between your laptop and your mobile phone. For the Instagrammer, TikToker, or Youtuber, the phone may be the center of it all.

Decide where you are most easily going to collect notes, information, screenshots, downloads, and any other manner of digital information you need to create your project. Where are you going to save things? What is the easiest to access?

Next, decide how you want to capture and store that information in that digital space. There are thousands of apps out there which can help you save anything from voice memos to videos and character sketches. The most common places to start are apps like Milanote, Notion, Evernote, Goodnotes, and others like Obsidian and Roam Research.

Organize

Once you know where and how you’re going to capture all your ideas and notes, the next step of the process requires organizing all that information. That’s the center of the second brain approach. Figure out the best way to categorize all the information you need to access over the life of the creative project or idea that you have.

That’s a big ask when you realize how many pieces of information go into bringing something creative into life. In Forte’s approach, this organization broken down even further into 4 basics:

• Projects: The overall projects that you’re working on in the present moment, big and small.
• Areas: Higher-level niches which contain advanced (or completed) projects. Ex: A “designs” folder which contains projects which have been approved by clients or passed final draft.
• Resources: A collection of all information used on a project in the current moment or future. Can contain direct resources related to the project, or higher level information like “how to publish,” something you’ve completed.
• Archive: Even when a project is completed, there is often information that needs to be saved, but not easily accessed. That’s where the archive comes into play. This is the dump of all the resources that are important, but low priority.

Here’s something really important to keep in mind as you get organized: the above are guidelines and guidelines only. They’re starting points. You can adjust and edit your segments in whatever way best suits you to structure your ideas and materials in such a way that they can be brought together for distillation.

Distill

A project is no good if all these swirling pieces aren’t brought together into one tangible item. That’s the point of all content creation, whether you are a writer or a digital artist, video maven or an influencing powerhouse. That’s exactly what the 3rd part of the second brain approach is all about, distilling the information you’ve collected so that you can use it for the best outcome.

Classically, this is done by taking notes and making comments on the digital information you’re collecting. If you’re a writer using Scrivener, you may add an article about being a better writer to your “Notes” section. Later, you may run through that article and highlight important dates and information along the way.

Those notes you make are “distilled” into a single, easy-to-read notes document you scan quickly when you need to return to the information. In one fell swoop, you can identify what’s most important when you return to a project after a break or before publishing.

Express

Last, but not least, express your project; get it out into the world. That’s what the 4th and final step of the second brain approach helps you to do. After collecting all that information, putting it in the right places, and figuring out what matters, you must express it in a way in which the public or your client can best digest it. Remember, the point of the second brain is to create something new.

Put it together. Put it out there. Maybe it’s a book or an article. If you’re an online educator, maybe it’s a lesson plan or a podcast outline for the day. This is the action part of the process. Bring your skill to life and use it in a way which enlightens the world. The materials in your second brain should help you bring a new creative light into the universe.

The second brain isn’t magical. It’s a very real and practical approach to helping us become better content creators across the board. You can wire it any way you want to, and you can make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. There’s no right or wrong way to engage your creative brain as long as you’re following along the basic lines.

Take some pressure off your mind and give it the freedom it needs to bring new ideas forward. Let your second brain be your base and center of organization in all the digital projects you lean into across the year ahead.

Forte, T. (2022). Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential. Atria Books, NY.

© E.B. Johnson 2023

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