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🧠 The CODE method: how to turn information into action

3 min read

CODE isn’t just a way to take notes. It’s a cycle of transforming information into useful ideas that work for you and your projects.

The method is described in Tiago Forte’s book “Building a Second Brain” and pairs perfectly with the PARA method and your knowledge of Obsidian.

CODE = Capture → Organize → Distill → Express

1️⃣ Capture

Goal:

catch what resonated, without thinking about why or what for.

📥 What you can capture:

  • phrases that grabbed you;
  • thoughts that gave you a “wow effect”;
  • observations from life or work;
  • great phrases from books, videos, chats.

Example:

I was reading an article about MVPs, and one phrase hid a powerful insight. Without overthinking, I tossed it into my 📥 Inbox. A couple of days later — I reworked it into a startup template.

2️⃣ Organize

Goal:

understand where and why the saved information will go.

The code phrase:

“Does this relate to my projects, resources or areas of life?”

🔍 Use filters (12 filter questions).

Tiago Forte suggests using 12 key questions to understand whether it makes sense to save the information at all.

  • If the answer to even one question is “YES” — we keep it and sort it into the system. If NO — it’s just off the mark, delete or ignore it.

Here are 6 of my 12 custom questions:

  • Is it useful for the YouTube channel?
  • Does it serve the startup or MVP?
  • Does it strengthen discipline or focus?
  • Does it improve AI or no-code skills?
  • Does it fit the current project?
  • Is it connected to the system in Obsidian?

📌 By the way, you can automate this process a bit in the future:

  • 🗂 automover-obsidian — for sorting by key categories
  • 🔁 Dataview — shows a list of new unsorted notes
  • ⌨️ Ctrl + P — quickly find the organise command (move a file to the right folder)

3️⃣ Distill

Goal:

Imagine you’re explaining the idea to your future self.

🛠 The Obsidian techniques I use for this:

  • Bold — for key thoughts
  • 💡 Callouts: > [!idea] Insight: …
  • 🔁 Alt + Q — a random note to rethink
  • 📄 A card template: “Idea → Essence → Application”
  • highlightr-obsidian — highlight by colour
  • emoji-toolbar-obsidian — for visual structure

Example: a 15-minute article → one note with 3 lines. Everything that really matters stayed.

4️⃣ Express

Goal:

  • apply it
  • Otherwise you’re — just a consumer.

📤 The forms of expression I use:

  • Tell a friend
  • Write a short post
  • Put it into a video
  • Embed it in a template
  • Use it in a project
  • Run a brainstorm

Example:

Studied Customer Discovery → Added it to “Resources” → Inserted it into a startup template → Showed it in a video → Made a card in Excalidraw.

📌 Automation you can use for this:

💡 Conclusion: CODE + PARA = systems thinking

The CODE method helps you not just save information, but turn it into action. Together with the PARA method — you get not just a storage, but a working environment for thinking.

  • Capture — intuitive saving
  • Organize — filtering by goals
  • Distill — squeezing out the essence
  • Express — turning it into a result

What do I recommend doing now?

📌 Add the CODE framework to your template for starting a new topic or project — and your system will become a second brain.

Keep going?