Hey , guys , and welcome back to another episode of your Brain's Coach podcast . My name is Angela Shurina , I'm your host , I'm your Brain's Coach and it is my job here to bring to you all the best recent , cutting-edge , most important , useful and effective and sometimes fun and mind-boggling brain-body tools so you could take better control of your thoughts , of your emotions and , most importantly , impactful actions to move big rocks forward in your life , even when you feel like there is so much distraction and clutter and to-dos are never ending , even in that situation . So you could take control of things that need to be prioritized and you can move things forward , feeling like you're building more and more satisfying and fulfilling experience . Today , guys , on Friday I finished another certification for stress resilience , recovery , sleep and at the end of Friday I think it was 8 pm , maybe 8.30 , I felt like so many things happened recently and there is so much on my plate , and there is so much on my plate and there is so much to do that I cannot possibly keep up that pace and get it all done . And at that point I realized , yeah , it's time to get back to my systems , which you're going to learn about in a moment to clarify , to capture , to filter things out and then take the most important steps and actions and keep moving the most important things forward .
Speaker 1So I shut down my computer on Friday night . I felt like I needed to celebrate my recovery certification with a proper day off . So I was scheduled to go to my first national park experience adventure . We went out to see some flower blooming , which happens only for a couple of months during the season in South Africa . So the whole day was 100 kilometers away from my computer , which I learned about myself . It's the only way to make myself not be on my computer at least a portion of the day . So that happened . And then on Sunday I scheduled a planning , clarification , capturing and filtering session . You'll find out what it's all about in a moment . And after that , coming to Monday , I felt like I got it , I have it all figured out and whatever I don't have yet figured out I'll figure it out . But I felt like you know , this week the most important things are scheduled and the rest of the stuff , well , you know you can't take care of everything , and that's what I want you to understand In our world of so much opportunity and possibility and choices , people who are going to win and it's up to you to decide whether you're going to be one of those people .
Speaker 1People who are going to win are people with better systems to navigate all this noise , distractions and choices . It's like in a supermarket . You go to any supermarket , like literally any , and I've traveled a lot and if you have a good system of choices , of personal policies , what it is you want to do with your nutrition , all this other stuff doesn't matter . Like I don't see most of the supermarket , or in a very tiny supermarket , I can find exactly what I need to make on some base level , my meal plan policy work . So that's what you get .
Speaker 1You get this clarity , almost like a beam of light showing you the way when you have the right systems in place , and that's how leaders , how high achievers , get ahead . They don't necessarily work more than anyone else . No , like everyone is busy the whole day , the whole freaking waking day , but leaders , achievers , have better system to filter out the things that they need to do that absolutely have to get done in order to move their agenda forward , and a lot of it has to do with their ability also to navigate that overwhelm that comes not from again , from having too much , like me on Friday , feeling overwhelmed , overloaded , too much on a plate that I cannot possibly handle at all , and then going through my systems , handed it all , and then going through my systems , my systematic approach , and feeling like I got it , I have it all figured out . There is more than plenty of time to get the important stuff done , so today I'm going to share with you systems that doesn't rely on any specific app or any specific , even protocol , but they need to be implemented in some way or fashion . What I learned from top productivity experts , business leaders , leaders in different arenas , who achieved a lot , like I learned , they have some sort of solution around this specific concept to eliminate overwhelm and overload and keep themselves learning , pacing life , feeling like they're on the top of their game , remembering and solving problems , focused and alert and present when needed .
Speaker 1You can have it all when you take care of what is called cognitive or mental health . But the mental health , you know , sometimes and I think actually in most cases it gets this emotional component and maybe trauma and stress component . What I'm talking about and that's where I try to separate cognitive health and mental health what I'm talking about is handling your life , your work , everything you need to do to keep your life running and achieve things . Taking care of all of that so you don't have this feeling of overwhelmed , forgetting things , dropping balls , constantly feeling behind like there is too much . And that's what I want you to get better at from today's episode Obviously taking action after the episode .
Speaker 1Because if you just listen to stuff and don't then incorporate that into some sort of action plan , it's like you never heard it . Knowledge is not power . Knowledge is potential power , only giving you the results and power if it's acted upon . So whenever I hear something on a podcast or read something in a book , or I hear something from a person and I feel like you know I got to implement that , so then I sit down sometime in that day or the very latest next day and I make a note of it in my note app on my phone to sit down and see where and how I'm going to be putting that into action . Because , again , if you don't put it on your schedule , don't put it into some action plan . It's like that learning never happened . True , learning is about taking different action because you know something different . So today , again , is about taking care of your cognitive health and having good systems in place that are time and experts-proven good , systems that allow you to not feel overwhelmed and forgetful and constantly feeling behind and dropping important balls , but instead feeling alert , focused , competent and thoughtful and present and ready to learn , remember , solve problems and show up as your best self as often as possible .
Speaker 1Your brain , guys . It has limited capacity . It's a machine , biological machine , but it is a machine , and it is very similar to a computer , obviously different in so many ways because it's inside your skull and we have different energy systems and different ways of operating , which is defined by nature and biology , which we didn't design . But a computer is actually made in an image of our brain and so a lot of processes work quite similar , like , for example , no matter what computer you have , if you open too many programs , too many apps , too many tabs , it's going to slow down . The more intense the tasks are , the faster that's going to happen . That's why it does matter how many tabs you have open in your browser .
Speaker 1If you have 30 or 40 , your computer's memory is going to be loaded with that instead of maybe doing something more important like maintaining I don't know the health of your hard drive or something like that . Not that techy , but you get the idea . Your brain has limited capacity and if you overload it with 30 , 40 taps , that doesn't mean shit . You know sorry for my French you know what's going to happen the most important stuff doesn't get done , or you feel like it's too much , like there is already too much on your plate . You know , in Avatar there is this Avatar movie there is this moment when , before teaching this guy who decides to become Avatar full-time , so to speak , before teaching him their community wisdom , that sage or the elder tells him you cannot pour in a full cup . So if you already have too much stuff , that doesn't necessarily mean it's important . If you already have too many things , the important stuff doesn't have the space to go into .
Speaker 1And , by the way , you do have a working memory which is kind of like if you are on a techie side . Kind of like if you are on a techie side . It's an operating memory of your computer which stores the data needed to ongoing tasks right now . And then it's in this constant dance of being freed up . And , for example , you open the program , stuff gets loaded into this short-term memory and then you operate with this program , you do stuff , and then you close it down and that gets unloaded so other stuff can come in to be processed . So you have a very similar thing in your brain it's called working memory where your brain stores stuff , like , for example , when you remember a phone number to speak it out , speak it back to someone else . That's where it's stored . But if you don't use it any longer , it actually is eliminated . It doesn't even go into your long-term storage , your long-term memory .
Speaker 1So what you want to understand , the more stuff that is kind of open and your brain maybe waiting for it to be operated on , the more stuff you have that like , oh I got to do this , I got to do this and there is this project and that project and that project and you never unload it , you never capture it somewhere . It all gets in there , never goes away , because your brain doesn't know what needs to be stored there and what can be , so to speak , flushed out for the new stuff to come in and you become like like a slow-down computer with 40 tabs open . You're not able to take on more and all the major stuff gets slowed down . So I want you to understand that about your brain , that that's actually how your brain , based on current science works . So without systems , it's like putting more and more , opening more and more tabs and being more and more slowed down and feeling overwhelmed . That feeling is overwhelmed it's not because you have actually too much . It's because you store in your brain , for no good reason , too much and then you cannot operate more complex stuff . So , anyhow , that's about your brain . So what do you do to prevent that feeling of overwhelm , to not overload your working memory , to actually have this capacity to stay focused and clear and make great decisions when it truly matters , like ? So what do you do ?
Speaker 1I'm going to share with you practices that I learned from top experts , from the best people , high achievers , who really done some great , some phenomenal stuff . First , it's not a too much problem , it's no filter problem . What do I mean here ? Do you know what are you trying to achieve at this point in your life ? As simple as that your work , your health , your relationships , your fitness , whatever that is .
Speaker 1Do you know what are the few things that are important for you right now ? There is this thing you can do it all , just not at the same time . So what are those two , three things ? If it's one thing , it's even better If I found one thing to one priority , it would be better . I guess I do have one priority my business is my number one priority and I do treat it like that . Majority of my schedule is organized around my business and that is prioritized . So I'd say business number one , but then taking into consideration that my health is a support system of that , so I make sure that I always sleep well , eat well , manage my stress well , all of that exercise right .
Speaker 1But business is my number one priority right now . And then also relationships , personal relationships , family friendships , all of that and the rest of stuff that kind of doesn't matter , and I make sure that I focus on the quality stuff Again my family , my friends , not just some parties that I don't enjoy truly or some other noise that never brings me any satisfaction . I know myself I did quite a lot of self-awareness work and that is why it's so easy for me to say no to entertainment and all kinds of invitations , because I know exactly what I want from this life , what makes me tick , what makes me happy from this life , what makes me tick , what makes me happy , and I make sure that my schedule reflects that . So it's not of too much problem , it's a no filter problem , and your filter is knowing what it is . You're trying to achieve , what is important for you right now , and what are those choices and decisions that lead you towards that vision of your life at this point , which are not so ?
Speaker 1That filtration system . That's where a lot of world struggles with , because most people just don't take any time to figure out who they are , what the F they want and where the F they're going with their life . And the reason why I'm so passionate about that ? Because it should be in our education system but it's not there . And so we spend decades of our life learning about how to do a profession or learning about the world geography , history , et cetera but we spend close to zero time learning about ourselves . And that's how you end up , with the world that has so much and most of the people having no idea how to make proper choices aligned with who they are , because they simply don't know who they are . So make sure that you spend some time doing those sometimes boring or seemingly non-relevant exercises like figuring out your purpose , your why , what kind of person you are , what makes you tick , what do you want , when you ask a lot of people what you actually want one , two things from life . I can summarize it in one sentence I want to create the world . I want to contribute to the world , where more purpose-driven people unlock the most of their potential and use it to make a better world for all of us . That's what my whole life is all about . But that clarity comes from a lot of self-awareness work right . So you don't need an eye to automate systems or automate things that shouldn't be there in the first place . You need a clear filtration system . You need a clear filtration system .
Speaker 1Second , where this overwhelm comes from , there is the great saying by David Allen , the author of Get Things Done System , the system that has been used for decades now all across the world , the system to organize your to-do list and your priorities and your project , your personal and professional . So he has this great saying your brain is a crappy office , and what he means here is our brain is for thinking , creating ideas , making decisions , figuring out complex stuff and solutions . Our brain is not for storing trivial stuff like I need to buy cat food and my own food and go and I don't know , take my kids to school and tell this to Mary and tell this to John . Those things should not be in your brain . To John those things should not be in your brain . So what David Allen teaches the whole world and that's how he made a living being one person but coming up with this genius idea all he basically says is you need an organizing system for all of this stuff . It shouldn't be in your head .
Speaker 1Your head is a crappy office and the first step in the system is having a system to capture stuff . What are your projects , what are your priorities ? What are your to-dos , what are the ideas ? What are the options ? What do you need to do on Monday ? What do you need to do in the week ? What do you need to do in a month ? What do you want to accomplish in a year ? It should not sit in your head Now . To give you an idea .
Speaker 1When you have a good capturing system like for me , it's a combination of a planner , a calendar , notepad for ideas , with a note app on my phone , dedicated project folders in my Google Drive and in my computer and reminders in my calendar . So when you have a good capturing system and good calendars and reminders supporting that system , what happens is , even if I get amnesia tomorrow , I still can get through most of the stuff for the next months and probably till the end of the year . If I don't remember any of that , I can still get the most important stuff done , and that's when you know you have a great capturing and organizing of all of this to-do stuff . That's what you know when you have it and that is good , that you can literally say I can forget everything I know right now and I still can get the most important things done . That's what it means to have a good capturing system , right ?
Speaker 1So your brain is a crappy office and a lot of that overwhelm that you have simply comes from you trying to store all of that in your head and trying to remember all of that . Your brain was never designed for that . And , by the way , did you know that ? Even the fact , the act of writing things down or dumping it all out from your head on a piece of paper that even helps you sleep better ? Why ? Well , because then your brain doesn't have to store all this information and keep your neural circuits engaged in on stage , which is the opposite of the off state that is needed to create the deepest kind of sleep . So write things down and you'll see how faster you're going to fall asleep and how better you're going to sleep . For a lot of people it actually ends up like in my experience with my clients , with them being able to sleep beyond six hours because they're not worried about forgetting , like internally they didn't have that state of on , they can be fully off . So write things down before going to bed , see what happens . Do it for at least a week to give experiment a chance of success .
Speaker 1So the second thing is having capture system . Your brain is a crappy office . It's not good storage facility . And number three well , until Elon Musk , you know , creates some sort of like storage tech , storage in our head , until then , like it holds true . Number three personal policies . You know , like a lot of companies have their policies basically saying we do this in this way , we don't do this . Then whenever somebody people working in the company make certain decisions that are important decisions and can affect , you know , company separations , profits , well-being of the company . So you have policies in place . So even on your worst day , you can still make the right decision . And , ta-da , it turns out that having the same policy for a human being is also a great idea . So you don't have to make choices about trivial stuff all the freaking time .
Speaker 1Like somewhere on the internet it says people make on average 300 food decisions a day . I'm like 300 decisions . What are you guys thinking about ? I eat the same food on breakfast , lunch and dinner . I have been doing it , with slight variation , for a decade of my life . Do you know how easier it gets to do grocery shopping or meal planning ? I just go through the whole supermarket , no matter how big . In 20 minutes I'm done out of there and for the next week I don't have to think at all about what I'm going to eat . Can you imagine how much free time and decision-making capacity you just freed up to think about the important things like meaning of life , purpose of life and who you are in this life ? So personal policies that's what they do and it comes down to your meals , to what you say no to , what you say yes to , when you go out , with whom you go out , what kind of vacations . I pre-plan my stuff at least a week in advance , so I know what I'm going to say yes to and what I'm going to say no to . There is no decision-making involved . If I know that I have studies planned , let's say for the next week to make my certification happen in the next three months . It means that in those hours that I plan for my studies , there is automatic no to everything else .
Speaker 1And then also what I notice is it becomes less of a personal issue . I'm not thinking about should I say yes to this person or that person . I'm like this is my priority and I'm saying yes to that because I decided to do so , because it's important . And so also when you say I don't go out at that time because I go to bed at 8.30 . And then also people get less offended because yeah , this person goes to bed early , so that's why they don't go out . It's not about me , which is true , but then also again , it's a way of offending less people because they understand it's not your choice , it's your policy , this is what I do , this is how I function and that is why I'm saying yes to that and saying no to , but not just again about that person .
Speaker 1It's also about you not having to make all of these decisions . Like , for example , I make purchase decisions outside of my routine . You know groceries or transportation , et cetera . I make purchase decisions outside of my norm only on Saturdays . You know what it also does . It helps you to save a ton of money because you don't make purchases driven by emotional like oh you know , I saw this and I want this . No , by the time it's Saturday . If I saw something on Monday or Tuesday or even on Friday , by the time it's Saturday , I'm like yeah , you know , I already forgot about that . And you save so much and you get to save money to spend it on things that are actually important to you and you feel a lot less stress because you don't waste money on stuff that doesn't really matter .
Speaker 1But beyond that , when you have these personal policies to help you make decisions in your worst times , and also not to make decisions when asked many times during the week whether you would go here , there or anywhere , or whether you would eat this or this or that , like somebody asked me while we were out to a national park Angela , why don't you eat a cookie ? I'm like I don't eat sugar , so I don't make that decision . Should I eat this cookie or not ? No , I just don't eat . It Makes my life easier . Make the decision Should I eat this cookie or not ? No , I just don't eat . It Makes my life easier , actually . And every time I see a cookie , I'm like , it's just not my food . So , personal policies that's a way to automate your decision making , your yes and no's , and that's a way out of decision fatigue and a lot of that overwhelm that you might be experiencing .
Speaker 1So , handling complexity the gateway to the top Guys , what I noticed working with quite a few high achievers over the years and learning a lot from social media and interviews on different podcasts , what I learned is that , yes , they do have good work ethic , but it's not like you know . They do a lot more 24-7 , a lot more than you do . They have better than 90-something percent of the people . It's better systems for handling complexity . If you have no system for handling complexity , when complexity comes and eventually it does , it's going to overwhelm you , run you over . It does it's going to overwhelm you run you over , leaving you behind wondering how on earth all these people who I admire achieve all that much . Better systems , better systems , guys . And don't believe me , ask any person you admire . Thanks to social media , you're just one step away , one click away from that person . Don't believe me . Ask that person , give them a compliment . You know you accomplished so much . How do you do that ? And they'll probably tell you about a bunch of systems that they use to be able to do so .
Speaker 1So clear minds , supported by systems , make big things happen , no matter what , no matter the distractions , no matter the complexity , no matter the economy I guess what else ? When you reduce mental clutter and you lower your stress by doing so , your energy levels rise , making you feel like a superhero , ready to take on the world any day of the week . So the formula for getting to the top and out of overwhelm forever , the formula is filter . Understand what the F do you want in this life , who you are and how you're going to handle things like your values . So filter , have a filter , not trying to just remove distractions magically somehow .
Speaker 1Capture your brain is a crappy office . Capture your brain is a crappy office . Do you have a good system of storing everything From the birthday of your mom to buying cat food to the most important project of your life , with all the prep that's required ? Do you have the capture system ? If you got amnesia tomorrow , would you be able to get through the week ? If not , you need a better system and create policies , just like any good company creates policy . For a freaking reason , guys , it's not just the good to have .
Speaker 1Gesture Policies are there for a reason it's a rule book for people to make good decisions . So create personal policies . What you do , what you don't do when you go to bed , what you eat when you exercise , what kind of people you spend your time with . When you spend time with those people around networking events , meetings , like everything what are your personal policies ? Spend your decision-making power on moving big rocks of your life forward . So do you have filter capture , create policies system in place ? And if you don't , then that is the time to work on it . No better time to reduce overwhelm and make sure that important things get done then today . I'd recommend just delaying everything else until you have this system , unless it's truly urgent . Or , at the very least , schedule a couple of hours and that will just give you an idea of what exactly you need to work out and how . But schedule a couple of hours over the next week , tops couple of weeks . But make it happen , make it done If you want to create the life that you truly love living with a lot of impact , achievement and happiness and extraordinary things , and having the vision for your life realized . Filter capture , create policies .
Speaker 1And , guys , don't forget to share this podcast episode . We don't run any ads . We don't do a lot of promotion . Need to get better on that and figure that one out . So please do share this podcast episode with at least one person who might be feeling overwhelmed because they want to jump . They have everything they need to jump to the next level , but that overwhelm just doesn't allow them to do so . So share this podcast episode with them . Let's make the world a better place together and , till next time , be a superhero that you are , get important things done and let's make this world an awesome place for all of us to live in . Talk to you soon and have a clear kind of day .