Authors Tiago Forte
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1/ Here's the case for making "Curate" the first step in my methodology for personal knowledge management, known as CODE. Instead of "Capture"
C – Curate
O – Organize
D – Distill
E – Express
2/ The word "Capture" comes from the first step of GTD, which described it as "the Capture Habit"
This was a novel idea at the time, that you could pluck bits of information out of your mind and the external world and save it in a place you trust and control
3/ When it comes to open loops (unfinished tasks), it's very important to capture them:
1) from your internal mind (where they cause stress)
2) immediately (before you forget them)
3) thoroughly (because even a single one slipping through the cracks can be catastrophic)
4/ But none of these apply to capturing non-actionable information. Most of it 1) comes from the outside world, 2) will come around again if it's any good, and 3) you have to be VERY selective about what you keep to avoid getting drowned in it
5/ And most clearly of all, you don't want the act of capturing content to be habitual and automatic. Habits are best for actions that require no active thought, and may actually suffer if you think about them too much
C – Curate
O – Organize
D – Distill
E – Express
I\u2019m thinking of changing the C in CODE to Curate instead of Capture
— Tiago Forte (@fortelabs) January 18, 2021
Capture focuses on the mechanical action, which is trivial now
Curate focuses on the Curation Mindset of intentionally choosing what to consume, which is harder than ever
2/ The word "Capture" comes from the first step of GTD, which described it as "the Capture Habit"
This was a novel idea at the time, that you could pluck bits of information out of your mind and the external world and save it in a place you trust and control
3/ When it comes to open loops (unfinished tasks), it's very important to capture them:
1) from your internal mind (where they cause stress)
2) immediately (before you forget them)
3) thoroughly (because even a single one slipping through the cracks can be catastrophic)
4/ But none of these apply to capturing non-actionable information. Most of it 1) comes from the outside world, 2) will come around again if it's any good, and 3) you have to be VERY selective about what you keep to avoid getting drowned in it
5/ And most clearly of all, you don't want the act of capturing content to be habitual and automatic. Habits are best for actions that require no active thought, and may actually suffer if you think about them too much