Confronting my Productivity Guru - Tiago Forte

People often call me a productivity guru, but in this episode I sit down with one of the world's foremost experts on productivity @TiagoForte. Tiago's taught me and thousands of people how they can revolutionise their lives and businesses with his course ‘building a second brain’ and during this conversation he shares that wisdom. We talk about how he fell into the world of productivity and how actually building a business is at the core of what is means to make a positive impact on the world, as well as misconceptions about productivity and his brand new book 'Building A Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential'.

00:00 Intro
01:44 How has having a child has impacted your productivity?
06:01 How did you become one of the world's foremost experts on productivity?
12:05 How to keep up with managing information flows
17:20 Is the world moving away from productivity?
23:24 What's the meaning of productivity for you?
34:11 Getting interested in business and making money
58:31 Your new book
01:03:14 What is a second brain and why does it help you organise your life?
01:14:31 The principles of building a second brain

🔗 CONNECT WITH TIAGO

🎥 YouTube Channel - @Tiago Forte

🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED

📙 SPONSORED BY SHORTFORM

📄SHOW NOTES & TRANSCRIPT

🎙 ABOUT THE PODCAST

The podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover their journey's towards finding joy and fulfilment at work and in life. My names Ali, and in each episode I chat to my guests about the philosophies, strategies and tools that've helped them along the path to living a life of happiness and meaning.

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[TiagoForte]

I had SUCH a great time chatting with you Ali. You're a class act and talented entrepreneur, and it was a pleasure diving into the nuts and bolts of productivity and notetaking with you. Let's do it again sometime!

[EmmaMarch]

This is by far, BY FAR, the best productivity podcast I have ever watched. The ideas are on another level, seriously... Thank you very much to both of you !

[adiloravingal]

Ali is like a child in front of his favorite teacher of his life.😇

[LearnWithMePODCAST]

43:15 this is like my favorite part there's some work you do that can pay you for years to come and the book and course are amazing examples 👍

[acpenn]

I refreshed this channel 10 times today waiting for this video. It did not disappoint ❤️
Well done, Ali! Keep doing what you’re doing

[carlav]

Brilliant book! Being someone with learning disabilities this book is helping me organize my digital life! I am reading this book for a second time! <3 Thanks 🙇

[NerriPangoCrochet]

At first I though Elon Musk is talking but there is so much more value in this talk.. I am so glad I came across this podcast! 🙏🙏🙏 going to find and buy the book straight away!! 👌🤗🙏

[alexeolsen]

Loved this podcast episode with Tiago! Since being introduced to Tiago Forte I’ve built my own second brain and seen an immense improvement in my note taking output and journaling! Thanks again, Ali. You’re a rockstar! 🌟

[usmonxon_mavlonov]

If you want to have a massive income in someone’s life, (help them) increase their income.

[nollindwhachell]

The problem that people have had with the word "productivity" is the meaning behind it. I’m guilty of thinking it was a bad word as well because of the different meaning and power it’s been given by big business (who often just work for the sake of making more money, rather than how it can empower more people).

What Tiago is effectively doing is humanizing the meaning of productivity and thus empowering it for everyone, thus letting us see it in a much broader way. Other people I’ve seen are doing the same thing in that they are redefining the meaning of other words (ie leadership, etc) and thus humanizing work (and business) again, making it something meaningful, purposeful, and accessible to all in profound ways.

But ya, so many of the problems experienced in our lives today are often caused by us misinterpreting the meaning of something, usually within the first half of our lives. Yet this is often how we can notice people who I like to say have "levelled up" in life and are working on things in a new way. It’s because they’ve often reframed the meaning of something, giving it a deeper, broader perspective, thus setting us free from the limited mindset of the older meaning.

BTW Tiago’s insight near the end on how a second brain helps to deal with the basic mundane stuff of your life first is really poignant. I’ve never thought of it that way before. It actually correlates quite closely with the metaphor used by Scott Barry Kaufman in his Transcend book. In effect, it helps you get out of the "water" of the mundane stuff you’re often "drowning" in on a daily level and stand on something tangible that becomes a "vessel" to help you "navigate" your life and to express who you truly and intentionally want to be.

[carriebartkowiak]

Please, please, PLEASE disconnect the microphones from the table. Every little tap you make on the table with your hand, with your knee, the arm of the chair bumping into the edge of the table, etc REVERBERATES through the table, up through the mic stands, into the mics and then into our ears like GOD BEATING ON THE SKY.

[SofiaPotdevin]

This is the first episode I watch from Dipe Dive and what an episode!! Loved it! Thank you Ali and Tiago for making it possible. I especially the concept of making those 3-5 minutes chunks of time count. Those can make a huge difference on our life. THANK YOU! 💓

[sneeds]

Is Ali's audio really quiet? Tiago seemed the perfect volume

[RivimieraNakana]

The Bertrand Russell quote isn’t the definition of a job, it’s the definition of work specifically - because it’s a double entendre on the physics meaning of work (ie work = force x displacement)!

[Gilly]

What a treat. Two intelligent men discussing important matters. I loved it. An enriching experience. Thank you for taking the time to share your conversation.

[marklazaroindia]

Put some foam isolation between your microphone and your table. A pop filter would be a good addition as well. Listen to this podcast on good speakers or headphones, you’ll hear the low end bumps from your hands touching the table.

[danielvarga_p]

I just realised how good is the green backround here, pleasure to look to the video. Thank you for the really excellent production quality.

[HUMLOCKA]

At about 45:50 you talk about the self-constraints that we often put on ourselves that prevent us from going after our goals. This is very true, and I think that everybody who has felt this way should read about the story of Epictetus, a stoic philosopher who was first born as a slave, but was the most free of them all, in which I like to call it in my video the 'free mind'. If Epictetus, a slave, can be free, why can't most of us? Epictetus had his work Discourses which would be good if you're interested in Epictetus and his thought process.

[VeroDeDream]

How did I miss this channel !!! 😅 now I have to binge watch to catch up 😮

[AhmadBazoobandi]

Thank you, Ali. Getting to know you has been one of the best things for me this year