Your brain is not a junk drawer: Stop stuffing everything in there

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I saw this little meme the other day that said "Unfortunately, I want to do everything! And I want to do it all excellently, immediately, and with no learning curve!". This encapsulates my energy towards wanting to do SO many things. I don't mind the hard work that it takes to learn something new (I tend to embrace the suck that comes along with learning), BUT I do mind that it comes with the time commitment and at the expense of being able to do other things.

We live in a land of excess...ahem, I mean, opportunities. Sometimes the availability of so many options really can really impact the cognitive load which then affects decision making, starting, and follow through.

Mental fatigue isn't always caused by "doing too much". A lot of times, it's caused by asking our brains to manage too many unnecessary decisions, distractions, and competing demands all at once. The goal of this post is to help to move us from reactive thinking ("backseat driving") to intentional thinking ("Front-seat driving").

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲

1. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞)

Not ever y choice deserves a board meeting in our brain...

Reduce small, repetitive decisions whenever possible. Create routines, meal plans, workout schedules, or standardized processes. The fewer unnecessary choices we make, the more brainpower we save for decisions that actually matter.

2. 𝐏𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭 (𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤)

While our brains may appreciate novelty (yay new neural connections), it does not thrive in chaos.

Create dedicated blocks for focused work instead of constantly switching between tasks. Every time we jump around, our brain pays a "refocus tax."

3. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

If our environment is screaming for our attention, our brain is fighting a battle before it can even begin. Clear your workspace and remove distractions. Remove clutter, silence notifications, put your phone in a different room. Make the 'right' action the easiest action. The easier it is to begin a task, the less willpower and cognitive effort are required to get started.

4.𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬

Not every incoming request desreves immediate access to our attention.

Instead of checking emails, texts, and notifications throughout the day, group them into designated windows. Frequent interruptions create a "refocus tax" that makes sustained concentration much more difficult.

5.𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝

Our brains are meant for creating, solving, connecting. Not necessarily to hold a gazillion reminders and a billion thoughts hostage...Externalize the mental clutter so the brain can breathe a bit. Write things down. Use a notebook, journal or task manager to externalize ideas, worries, to do lists, projects. Our brains do a better job at processing information than storing information...

6. 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬

First principles thinking asks: "What is ACTUALLY true here?". Instead of accepting "the way things are done", strip a problem down to its foundation and rebuild from there. Using the wisdom of others can save us time--do this when it's effective/beneficial/makes sense.

7.𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲

Mental fog often comes from vague thinking. Vague thoughts create vague problems and vague problems are hard to solve. Taking time to clearly define a problem, goal, or concept helps organize our thinking and improve decision-making.

8. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 (𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞)

Movement, especially walking, can calm the nervous system and create space for insight. Yay 'bilateral stimulation'. Sometimes the fastest way forward is to briefly step away and see things through new eyes.

The more cognitive load we remove, the more capacity we create for focus, creativity, learning, and meaningful work. Productivity is often less about doing more and more about thinking more clearly.

The goal isn't to become a productivity robot. It's to stop wasting precious mental energy on things that don't deserve it. Our attention is one of our most valuable resources . Let's protect it accordingly. :)

Below are a few groups that can be of benefit and strongly relate to today's topic:

30daychallengers

@Steve Webb

Executive Skills Journey

@Wesley Penner

Personal Growth Skool

@Bruno Militz

POLL: What is the biggest drain on your mental bandwidth right now?

Question: Wat are some of the strategies that you use that help in this area?

Too many decisions (constantly figuring out what to do next)

Too many distractions (notifications, scrolling, interruptions)

Too many unfinished tasks taking up mental space