Tiago Forte on Navigating Bottlenecks in the Digital Age

Crafting a Personal AI Muse Beyond ChatGPT

I attended Tiago Forte’s workshop in San Francisco two weeks ago. The insights he shared resonate with me, and here are a few key takeaways:

1. Make your AI smarter than ChatGPT.

AI is taking the chore of note-taking and turning it into something smarter. Tiago believes we're at a sweet spot where people who've been good at organizing their thoughts and projects can make their notes work more for them.

When you take notes, you are actually sending a note to your future self. It might feed into a future project or a book you want to write. Many notetaking apps have been building AI to support this workflow. Notion AI and Mem.ai are already building workflows to make smart suggestions. I’ve been feeding ChatGPT my past writings so that it learns my style. The future promises not just a smarter note-taking tool but a deeply personal one.

Let your AI know you.

2. Know your bottleneck.

Many people hope that new tools can unlock hidden productivity gain, yet Tiago offers a counterpoint grounded in the Theory of Constraints. Instead of chasing after every new tool, focus on your bottleneck—what's actually holding you back.

For some, the first bottleneck might be finding a powerful app, but as you use the app more, your bottleneck may become how to access high-quality information. Once you have a steady information flow, the bottleneck may become more about your vision and taste.

Address your true bottlenecks.

3. Productivity tool of each era.

It's often less about the feature specs and more about what was popular when they started their creative journey. George R.R. Martin, for instance, still relies on WordStar from the 1980s. Today’s best-selling authors like Tim Ferriss and James Clear use Evernote. The next generation has a strong push toward Notion. The tool represents the choice of each generation. It’s culture.

Tiago found that the tool you first chose might solve your first bottleneck, but then it simply becomes part of your workflow. Switching tools later on feels like tearing out your home's plumbing—it's disruptive and, often, unnecessary.

If it ain’t broke, don't fix it.

4. Use constraints to curate a high-quality second brain.

Have you ever hit the 10% highlighting limit on Kindle? In a world with too much information, Tiago sees constraints as a strategy to filter out noise and retain what's genuinely useful. It's a call for intentional curation rather than hoarding information.

He also speaks to the power of reps in capturing and organizing information. Many people collect notes, hoping that they could use it someday. It’s hard to know when that day will come, and useless notes may clutter the workspace. By going through the workflow of organizing and using your notes, you’ll get a better sense of how you will use it in the future. For example, you may know where exactly a note will appear in your next essay. It’s like honing an instinct, akin to how an archer learns to hit the target without consciously calculating each step.

Know why you save something.

5. What matters is what you make.

Tiago refers to the maker movement—create, learn, iterate—as the golden era. Learning happens when you take action in the real world. Instead of getting stuck in endless research, put your theory into practice.

I found real-world feedback essential to the learning process. When I learn something new, I would learn the basics and find a mentor to give me feedback. Instead of reading books on writing, go write something and ask your friends for feedback.

Go build something.

6. Capture with your default app.

Apple Notes and Google Keep are good enough. The default app is often the most effective in a world with options. It's not about the app. It's about minimizing friction in the capture process.

Using tools that are readily available allows you to jot down ideas the moment they come, preserving that spontaneity and creative flow. After all, speed is essential in our constantly evolving landscape.

Seize your best ideas before they slip away.

While many technologists are looking to use new tools and build new productivity apps, Tiago’s vision lies on the horizon of cultural innovation. He wants to connect with audiences who might not even be aware they need a change, reaching them through books, YouTube, and eventually, television.

The seeds of our current learning paradigm are sown early—from the preschool classrooms to the college hallways. The idea that we must consume knowledge for years before producing anything of value is deep-rooted and reinforced not just in schools but through television, movies, magazines, and parenting.

The way to change the learning paradigm lies in culture, not technology.