Organize your mind

Nowadays we are constantly flooded with information. From constantly incoming emails and text messages on the smartphone to deciding which product to buy. We are under constant pressure to make decisions. These decisions often have serious consequences.

Neuro scientists and researchers have found that such "decision overload" can be confusing and lead to unproductivity and loss of motivation. Avoiding this poses two challenges: How can you prioritize the really important decisions? And how can you make the best choice from a sea of ​​information?

In his bestseller "The Organized Mind * ", neuro scientist Daniel Levi-tin explains how the best results can be achieved when you are faced with several tasks and many sources of information. The core of his solution is the "organized mind".

The easiest way to explain this is with a historical anecdote. If you think of the most brilliant minds in the world, few can surpass Albert Einstein's genius. Einstein has worked through many scientific and complex contexts and has been able to develop his groundbreaking ideas with the help of his legendary mind. What was his secret The answer is pretty intriguing.

After an interview, a reporter asked Einstein to provide him with his phone number so that he could contact him for further information if necessary. Interestingly, Einstein opened his phone book, wrote down his number on a piece of paper, and gave it to the reporter. Understandably, the reporter was shocked that the smartest man in the world couldn't remember his own phone number. Einstein replied only dryly: "Why should I remember something if I know where I can find it?".

And that's the key to success: don't mess up your mind unnecessarily, but save ideas and information so that you can find them quickly when you need them.

1,Just feel 

Just like Albert Einstein, you should accept that it is not worth using your precious mind to keep track of unimportant facts. Instead, use it to focus on information that can contribute to creative thinking or problem solving. Visualizations help to accelerate the process of finding ideas. You can graphically present ideas and relevant information in mind maps, for example . Whether manually or with the help of digital tools - visualizations help you to get an overview, to grasp relationships and to better remember important information.

2. Expand

As Daniel Levitin explains in his book, the first step to successfully organizing the mind is to use an "external expansion of the brain". What this comparison really means is that you should take the burden off your mind of having to categorize information all the time. Instead, they use smartphone apps , calendars or diaries to record important tasks or appointments.

3. Organize ideas 

The best and most effective way to help your mind organize ideas and tasks is to write them down on index cards.

Step 1: One index card per idea (project, task, thought, concern).

Step 2: Depending on how your workflow is and when you are most productive, you should sort your index cards by

• still has to be done today and
• Tasks that cost a lot of energy and cannot be completed quickly.

The cards will stay with you all day.

Step 3: It is also important that you have additional index cards with you to be able to write down your thoughts.

Each card should only contain a single point and can be color-coded depending on the topic. At first glance, this may seem outdated in our technically advanced world, but Levitin explains that the organization of information on such cards makes it easier to memorize and access. It also supports the way the human brain works. For those who shy away from using physical index cards, the best option would probably be a smartphone app that enables virtual “sticky notes” to be written.

4. Do, make it happen

Once you've outsourced the information organization process and your mind can focus on the essentials, Levitin suggests dividing the tasks into four categories and taking the necessary action. Specifically, this means:

• Do: Completes all tasks that are urgent and that you have to implement immediately.
• Delegate: Delegate tasks to others when it helps to work efficiently or when you need support with a task.
• Defer: Postpone less urgent tasks to a later time.
• Drop: Discard any tasks that are not worth pursuing.

As soon as you are confronted with a new task or information, she immediately assigns one of these four categories and then decides what the next step is.

Finally 

In our everyday life, which has an overload of information on every corner, it is important to keep an organized mind. This is the only way to stay successful. The best way is to no longer remember unimportant information, but instead to use an external system to sort to-do lists. It uses index cards and apps to be able to immediately divide tasks and information into the four areas - Do, Delegate, Defer and Drop.