Your To-Think List
Sneaky.
That's the word.
Because sometimes we can think we're done with our to-do list, or at least have written it all out, but then —
Why is my mind still buzzing?
I'm so overwhelmed.
Now what do I do?
Jk I know what I have to do but:
Our brains are jam-packed with more than we realize. Items on our to-do list often also come with invisible — sneaky! — items on our to-think list.
Sure, revisions are due on Friday.
But that also means:
Monday: Did client give feedback yet?
Tuesday: Did client give feedback yet?
Wednesday:
Thursday: Oh shit I forgot to follow up yesterday!
Friday: BRB trying to fit a week's worth of work into one day :)
Okay, let me see, which ones do I need to work on?
The file... the file... where'd I put it — ah! there it is.
Wait! Did I pay the electric bill today?
Okay, I'll do that later.
Or now, because I'll forget.
Or later. I'm in the zone now.
Am I in the zone if I keep asking myself these questions?
Okay, I'll do it now so I won't forget.
Done.
Where was I...?
...
...
The revisions!
I'm revising. I'm revising. I'm revising.
Aaaaaand now I have to compose an email to send this to client. Why are emails.
Which means I have to export all the files and upload them into the folders
What formats do they need to be exported in again?
Is it "Client - File A" or "File A - Client"? "Client - File A (v2)"? Let me peek at an old client folder to see what I did before.
Oh shit, I forgot to take the laundry out!
Alternatively, there's also:
Friday:
Click here to get the song stuck in your head.
Enter: your second brain.
She's exactly what she sounds like.
A second brain for your brain where you can store your brain while you brain so you can brain without braining.
In my humble opinion, a good one has two key features:
Quick Dump
Intuitive Retrieval
1. Quick Dump
You don't want to have to be ✨ organized ✨ for this to work. You're probably already vibrating (do I do this? do I do that? but wait the other thing!) by the time you need to call on a second brain for help.
The idea is to be able to get your thoughts out at the speed of thought.
If you need to find the right category or tag or date or whatever before you can write something down, it's going to break you out of flow.
Out of flow = you'll forget what you were thinking about = now you're worried you forgot something but don't remember what = defeats the purpose.
2. Intuitive retrieval
So now your thoughts live somewhere else. Where we don't want them to live is the void. You need to feel that when you "put a thought down," it's secure; it won't just disappear.
For that second brain brain dump to be useful:
You need to be able to find what you need, when you need it.
Even better if the thing finds you!
It has to think the same way you do.
This is all sounding a little abstract so let me share a few examples.
And as with all the times I showcase automation inspiration, my goal is to share what's possible so you can pick and choose from the concepts that resonate!
Don't stress the rest! The point is tailoring the system to meet specific needs — yours included. There's no one size fits all (especially not when it comes to brains) so it's about a size that fits *you*.
For when your brain has too many brains
This year, M volunteered to be a leader for a month-long international summer camp. And it's intense. They're doing preps now, and it's... whew.
It's an admin tsunami of forms. It's coordinating materials and transpo and visas. It's coming up with activities. It's parenting 4 new tweens. It's teaching them how to dance. It's keeping e i g h t parents updated and reassured and on deadline (!!!).
He loves it. AND. It's like 5 jobs on top of his job.
So M sorted his second brain by... brain! Everything was knocking into each other in his head, and he needed a way to untangle them. ➡️ He can focus on one "brain mode" at a time.
The "Quick Dump" was your regular table view, where he'd add one row at a time. But we used a kanban board to sort the cards for easy clicking and dragging!
Now when he's dealing with logistics, he can just focus on logistics. When it's time to talk to parents, he can turn on "PR" mode, with a dash of customer service and project management.
When it's time for dance practice, he can forget all of that for a couple hours while he makes sure his kids don't catch on fire or get their feet caught in the clapping bamboo!
What's that?
Oh because they're learning the Pandanggo sa Ilaw where they balance live candles on their heads:
And the Tinkling where every third step is a will-they-won't-they of sprained ankles:
NBD!!!!!!!!!
For when your brain is "where's that thing again?"
A is a fitness coach who manages 50 online clients at a time (!), whom he checks in with personally (!!), once a week (!!!), via either Messenger DMs, IG DMs, or WhatsApp (!!!!).
He asked for help because it wasn't the check-ins taking all his energy, it was the everything else."I want to be as hands-on as possible and conserve my energy for each client."
So for him, we designed a dashboard where:
People appear in the Check In column when it's their day of the week ➡️ he knows who he's talking to today, without worrying he'll miss someone, and he doesn't have to think about them until it's time to think about them
There's a quick link that opens straight to their chat ➡️ he doesn't have to remember what platform they prefer and he doesn't have to scroll scroll scroll to find the thread << which was his biggest headache!
Then when he's done, he drags their card to Done ➡️ the cards stay out of sight, out of mind until it's time for the next check-in!
For when your brain is all over the place, but you don't want your notes to be
For a recent Pocket CTO Session, I was updating a client's existing onboarding system, which is almost trickier than creating it from scratch. You don't want to knock over the proverbial vase, so to speak, and especially not when these automations are live!
So I couldn't be doing it all in my head. But my brain goes a mile a minute and I wasn't about to slow it down.
I made a second-brain notes system in Roam where:
I could make notes as I went. I jotted down thoughts as the thoughts thought-ed. (See: Quick Dump) ➡️ I didn't interrupt my flow in the middle of writing my notes, and more importantly, I didn't feel like I had to "hold on" to these thoughts while creating zaps.
And then! I took advantage of Roam's query feature to gather and group my scribbles at the top of my notes (see: Intuitive Retrieval) ➡️ My notes are auto-organized*, I can see them at a glance, and I don't miss a thing.
Last thoughts, stray thoughts
When you feel like you're still buzzing, there's probably something left on your to-think list. I already know when I feel foggy — even if I don't know what that fog is — it's time for a Quick Dump.
Your second brain can be anything. My examples were all tech related because ... techin' care of business, but like. Two weeks ago I was scribbling on yellow pad??? HAHA truly it's whatever works.
You don't need one all the time. Don't feel like you're obligated to second-brain all the time, if that only makes it more tedious! The goal is to unload, not overload.
Rest really is at the end of your to-think list. When I can close my laptop and turn off my brain? When I have enough space in there to get bored? Where the only thing I'm worrying about is whether I want to crochet a case for my Kindle or watch Criminal Minds? Then I know it's gonna be a gooooood weekend.
To techin' care of business together,
Mikli
