profile

Forte Labs Newsletter

The Creative Power of Procrastination

Published 11 months ago • 3 min read

For a limited time this week, we're opening the doors to our Second Brain Membership.

You can now join the best community for personal knowledge management, where dedicated individuals use technology and information to create the life they want.

I made a short video to tell you more about it:

video preview​

The Second Brain Membership is only open for enrollment until Friday, June 7th, at midnight ET. I hope to see you inside!

3 Key Reminders for Organizing Your Information

Over the years, I've shared a lot about why, how, and when to organize the information in your life. Here are the three key things I keep coming back to:

1. Creating new things is what really matters

Don’t get caught up in organizing for the sake of it. The ultimate goal of organizing information is to enable you to create and take action. By focusing on tangible outcomes, you ensure that your organizational efforts directly contribute to your creative and productive endeavours.

2. Organize by actionability

Store your notes where they will be most useful the soonest. Think of information as perishable goods – the most actionable notes need to be front and center before they go “bad.” This approach ensures that you have quick access to the most relevant information exactly when you need it.

3. Your Second Brain is a dynamic, constantly changing system

Don’t strive for a "perfect" but static system. It should evolve with your needs and priorities. Information flows fluidly from one place to another, adapting as your projects and goals change. This adaptability allows your Second Brain to remain an effective tool for your growth and productivity.

The Creative Power of Procrastination

Creativity is often described as an elusive, even magical, phenomenon. In reality, it’s a skill – and there are many ways to prime your brain to be more creative.

Surprisingly, one of them is procrastination.

We generally think of procrastination as a bad habit, a mental hurdle we need to overcome. But research shows that delaying and postponing tasks can actually stimulate creative thinking — provided the conditions are just right.

This guest blog post explores the techniques that can turn procrastination into one of your most creative habits.

Book Recommendation: In This Economy? How Money & Markets Really Work

Today, I want to put the first book by finance writer Kyla Scanlon on your radar. Here's what it's about in her own words...

"When we live in a world that we don’t understand, it gets overwhelming and confusing and noisy and loud.

Understanding the system that you live in is key to making good decisions in the system.

Understanding the economy in all its simplicity and complexity is one of the most important things we can do."

I highly recommend you pick up this book if you want to understand the crazy new economy (and world) we live in now.

Productivity Tip: How to Automate Your Typing & Save Hours

Typing away at your computer for hours every day? Yeah, same here.

If you’re anything like me, much of that time is spent repeating the same tasks – typing your name, email address, Zoom links, and common phrases over and over. It might only take a few seconds each time, but it adds up!

As a productivity geek, I found the perfect solution to automate this repetitive typing: a text expander.

With a text expander, you can type a custom abbreviation, and it instantly inserts full snippets of text (even with personalized information). This simple tool has revolutionized my workflow, making me significantly faster and more efficient.

The text expander I recommend is Magical AI.

Magical AI is a free browser extension that goes above and beyond to help you...

  • Reply to emails and messages 10x faster by saving frequent responses while still personalizing them.
  • Fill out forms and spreadsheets automatically, eliminating the need for manual copy and paste.
  • Write entire emails, messages, and replies quickly with a 1-click, contextual AI writer.

You can install Magical AI in your browser in less than a minute, saving you time on over 10 million websites. And it doesn’t store your data so it never leaves your computer.

Thanks to Magical for sponsoring this newsletter!

Build your Second Brain

​Join BASB Foundation →​

🤩

Create a system for productivity

​Join POP →​

📚

Organize your digital life

​Get the PARA Method →​

Tiago Forte

​

Want to opt out of the newsletter or receive this email on a different email address? ​
​Update your preferences​

Want to stop receiving emails from us completely?​
​Unsubscribe from everything. (Use with caution!)

​

5318 E. 2nd St. PMB 36973, Long Beach, CA 90803

Forte Labs Newsletter

Build your Second Brain with Tiago Forte

Level up your productivity and life with new essays, videos, event invites, and other resources every Tuesday. Join 125k subscribers exploring the frontier of modern work, experimenting with new ways of doing more with less, and discovering what it means to fulfill our human potential. 100% free and 100% useful!

Read more from Forte Labs Newsletter

Over the past week, I’ve shared why I believe AI is the biggest shift in how we work since the internet, and why most “DIY” approaches fall flat when it comes to actual implementation in a business setting. Now it’s time to bring it all together. Tomorrow at 11 am ET, I’ll be joined by Hayden Miyamoto, a serial entrepreneur who’s been using AI to run and scale multiple businesses. We’ll walk you through the Master Prompt Method, the exact framework we both use to turn AI into something far...

4 days ago • 3 min read

I firmly believe AI is the biggest shift in how we work since the invention of the internet. And I’ve been especially curious about what it means for how businesses operate. That led me to connect with Hayden Miyamoto, a serial entrepreneur, business systems expert, and someone who’s already using AI to run and scale multiple businesses. We’ve been comparing notes over the past few months, and now we’re teaming up to share what we’ve learned. On Wednesday, April 23, at 11 am ET, we’ll walk...

11 days ago • 3 min read

Confused by all the productivity tools out there? Join me for a conversation today at 2 pm ET with Francesco D’Alessio, creator of Tool Finder and one of the most trusted voices in the world of productivity software. Francesco has reviewed more than 600 apps over the past decade, and together, we’ll unpack what actually matters when choosing tools in 2025—especially if you’re getting started or want to simplify your setup. RSVP Here There will be time for Q&A and, of course, we’re recording...

18 days ago • 2 min read