Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Brain?

Have you ever had a brilliant thought come into mind and then vanish without having done anything with it? Or maybe you intended to do something, made plans with someone, or really anything else, and then you didn’t do it because it escaped your present mind? 

The human brain is meant for computing information, not storing it. It is the most powerful computer on earth, and just like the machine you’re reading this on has different specialized processes for computing and storing information, so too is your brain a specialized part of the machine that is you.

So, what’s the solution?

How do you get the most out of your brain and all of the brilliance that comes from it?

Use it the way it’s meant to be used, of course: to compute!  And then integrate a system of storage into your life that works for you.

I’ve got a few that work for me. Ultimately, it’s going to take some experimentation to see what works for you, just as most all habits do to find that flow and make those (hopeful) improvements stick. But these solutions are pretty basic, so you should be able to mold them into something that works for you.

First of all, you need a space that your brain can trust is safe for storing its gold. Simply put, it needs somewhere to dump the valuable information as it is processing all the time, even when you are asleep. That might be some file on your computer, a cloud-based organization system such as Notion.so or ClickUp, or it could be old-school, analog style pen and paper. All systems have benefits, and it ultimately comes down to what works for you.

I mentioned a file on your computer as one possible solution, and it could be as simple as a text or Word document that just serves as a list of all sorts of things – to-do’s, ideas, appointments in your schedule and so on. Whatever it is.

Or, you could organize it more – as much as your heart desires. This is something that you will know best about yourself; not something to which I can recommend or give a one-size-fits-all solution. Just be careful of getting too addicted to organizing that you don’t actually get things done.

Putting pen to paper

There’s no secret we live in an era in which there is an ever-increasing presence of devices in front of our faces. You’re probably savvy enough to know that if you do want to dive into any of this further, you either already know how to or can find all the information you need on YouTube. So, let’s move on and give some love to the OG, analog method of using pen and paper.

Jared Tendler, author of The Mental Game of Poker alludes to the value of actually writing things down as early in his book as the introduction, which ends with a numbered 1-10 list of how to use the book to your best advantage. Number six has been quoted below.

“Questions are posed to you throughout the book. Take some time to reflect and answer these questions as if you’re being asked them directly. It makes the material in the book more relevant to you, and prevents you from being tricked into thinking you have every problem you read about. Ideally, you’ll also write the answers down.”

There is a reason he says that last statement about it being ideal to also write down your answers. When you physically write, you are enabling your brain to make multiple connections: you’re writing it, you’re seeing it being written, and you’re processing and connecting the two. All of these help with retaining information.

The next person I want to give reference on this regard is four-time Crossfit World Champion Mat Fraser. I actually don’t follow anything related to Crossfit nor do I do it, but I heard Fraser on a podcast and it was one of my favorite interviews of all time.

In passing, he mentioned how much pen and paper helped his mental game. He had gotten to a tough place in his life and began writing to peel back the layers. Eventually, he got to the bottom of things; and he attributes the actual act of putting the pen to paper for figuring out what was truly important in his life.

Fraser keeps notepads and pens together all throughout his house to write when he needs to get something out of his brain, whether it’s a to-do list for the day or something simple for the matter, or anything else, the latter of which can provide a transition into my second pen-to-paper instance.

Get shit out of your head 

Amy Landino is one of my favorite YouTubers. The motto of her channel and life’s calling is to “Go after the life you want.” She’s an incredible, down to earth human who’s been receptive to me personally via social media comments, just thanking her for the impact she’s had in my life. (Her husband Vin is also pretty cool, we’ve had a few exchanges on Twitter about random stuff.)

Some of the skills I’ve learned the most from Amy are in relation to organizing and prioritizing my time, especially with regards to starting your day off with a morning routine that sets you up for success throughout the day. One part of her morning routine is called Morning Pages, which actually comes from another author Julia Cameron.

Morning Pages are simple – you take out pen and paper, and you write until you’ve filled up three pages. (Or some specific amount of time, like 10 or 15 minutes.) Whatever comes to mind, you get it out of your head and onto the piece of paper in front of you. If you don’t know what to write, then write exactly that.

I’m willing to bet you can fill up three pages easier than you think.

There’s a lot of shit that comes into and through my head in the mornings. Morning Pages helps me get random shit out, some of which ends up being put onto an actual to-do list, and it helps me to focus on what is important to me in the moment. Landino says she often wakes up feeling like there’s a shit storm of sorts (my words, not hers) and if she didn’t get the shit out of her head, it would be a struggle to move any further with the day. It’s just a great way to unload shit from your mind.

The human brain is meant for computing information, not storing it. It is the most powerful computer on earth

Similarly, Fraser also has days where he is gloomy, and said sitting down with a pen and paper helps him break things down and get back to his values. This clears his head and lets him make sound decisions for his life.

The same concept works when your mind is cluttered for any reason. Same goes for an idea that comes to mind when you’re in the middle of something else. And you can make it work in digital or analog form. Or both.

 More important is to find that place, stick to that place, have that consistent go-to place that your brain can trust and let go of the idea to make space for more to take its place. If you don’t build that trust, your brain is still going to be devoting some of its activity towards that concern or distrust. That, or the idea will vanish into the ether. Either way you lose, and who wants that?!

 Set yourself up for success. It’s important you know what your strengths and weaknesses are, whether it’s in poker, physical life, or in between your ears. If anything, those mental processes are where it counts the most – after all, they can affect your decision making everywhere else in life, right?