The Productivity Myth Everyone Believes

Happy Sunday everyone,

Did you know the average person processes 34 gigabytes of information daily? That’s like reading 10 novels while scrolling 200 TikTok videos. No wonder your brain feels like a browser with 100 tabs open.

In today’s email:

• Why your brain isn’t broken—it’s just overloaded

• A 3-step “brain sweep” to declutter your mind in 20 minutes

POWER SURGE

Your Brain is just Cluttered

Imagine two colleagues preparing for a big project:

• Colleague A juggles 10 apps: notes in Evernote, links in Chrome, ideas in voice memos, deadlines scattered across Slack.

• Colleague B uses one system to organize everything—and still sleeps 8 hours.

Who’s drowning? Who’s thriving?

Spoiler: Colleague B wins. Not because they’re smarter, but because they’ve built a second brain.

Your Brain is for Thinking, Not Storing
A “second brain” isn’t another app—it’s an external system to capture, organize, and retrieve ideas. Think of it like bookmarks for your mind.

Science backs this: The Zeigarnik Effect says unfinished tasks clog mental bandwidth. Offload them, and suddenly you’ll focus like a monk in a library.

We chase “productivity porn”: Fancy apps, complex workflows, 15 Chrome extensions. But here’s the truth:

• The average person switches between 35 apps daily. Chaos!

• More tech = more friction. Time spent organizing ≠ creating.

Simplicity beats complexity. Always.

How to Build Your Second Brain (Minimalist Edition)

1️⃣ Start analog
Grab a $3 notebook. Dump every thought—ideas, to-dos, grocery lists. No filtering. “The best system is the one you’ll actually use.”

2️⃣ Pick one digital tool
Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes—it doesn’t matter. Organize by projects (not folders). Example:

• Project: “Q3 Marketing Campaign”

• Area: “Health Goals”

• Archive: “2023 Tax Docs”

3️⃣ Weekly “Brain Sweep”
Spend 20 minutes weekly sorting notes into:

• Action (do this week)

• Archive (save for later)

• Trash (let it go)

So, what could you create with 50% less mental noise?

Thank you for reading!

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