How do you organize your mind?

[Carlos MK]

Hi everyone!

I recently took upon myself to do whatever it takes to get my chaotic mind under "control", control not as in domination, but as an organizational framework that can take the stream and channel it in a useful way.

I've found out that there are systems that are very mind-ergonomic (to me), and others that require a hell of an effort to keep smooth and running and are prone to collapse at any slip. For example, I find Mindmaps very chaotic, while nested lists are more mind ergonomic (to me). I find mind maps chaotic, because I tend to find connections between absolutely everything, and then I begin questioning the nature of the connections and whether the categories begin having not very intuitive sense, and then... a mess.

the same goes for boards, I get lost on how to organize the board itself. then we go to the nested lists, they are good, but then I simply end up making a mess due to not fully managing to stick to categories...

let's put an example: I get a philosophic idea->" write it down, where? under philosophy? I can use it in business? under video topics? hold on, might be a part of the book? my journal? In the to do? maybe make a mind map instead? Nah, won't be enough. I just write it under journal then." So I do, and then I forget because there is no way I will find it.

I liked the GTD method until I found I was having problems, again categorizing things and also that is meant for things that are supposed to be "Done", but where do I put the Spiritual insights? and Ideas for machine learning? And what about this idea for this machine that does this and that? hold on, remember to check how patents work, oh, learn Fusion360, but not before I get the book more advanced, will help many people, shit! I should be promoting my business!

So, I consider myself quite yellow in the SD model, most of the things I conceive in my mind are about systems, or about the mechanics of things, the human mind, reality, society... I'm also an artist, like science, would love to get much deeper into it, I'm starting a business because I'm good at helping people get over child trauma with coaching and hypnotherapy, love to explore the limits of the human condition, the mechanics of evil, hate, love, physics, economics...

(Please, notice that I am deliberately letting the text become chaotic because I want to express the nature of the stream of my mind, in hope that someone of you would identify with it and would share in this post your system to organize your mind)

so If you feel like helping, here are my questions to you:

So, what is your system?

What habits support that system?

How do you find it useful to organize your ideas? categories, which ones? Tags?

Do you "sacrifice" something in the name of structure and organization?

So that's it, thanks to all of you who share your ways, I really appreciate it :)

 

 

[Recursoinominado]

Contemplation + writing, but i don't do it nearly as much as I should.

[Carlos MK]

12 minutes ago, Recursoinominado said:

Contemplation + writing, but i don't do it nearly as much as I should.

I do writing more now, it really is an incredible way to develop topics.

 

[Gesundheit]

Here's your guy: @Leo Gura

[Carlos MK]

2 minutes ago, Gesundheit said:

Here's your guy: @Leo Gura

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean.

Any content in special?

[Gesundheit]

3 minutes ago, Carlos MK said:

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean.

Any content in special?

Ask him directly. He's the most organized mind I've ever seen. It's the theme of his work. Pick whatever video and notice the methodological presentation of the subject down to the smallest bits.

He may reply to your thread now that I've mentioned him.

[meow_meow]

I create literally imaginary boxes in my head where I put labels with categories on then, then put ideas/to-do lists/beliefs/memories into them. lol.

[Carlos MK]

1 minute ago, Gesundheit said:

Ask him directly. He's the most organized mind I've ever seen. It's the theme of his work. Pick whatever video and notice the methodological presentation of the subject down to the smallest bits.

He may reply to your thread now that I've mentioned him.

That would be awesome to be honest because I have the inner conviction that I would be able to approach much more complexity if I would be able to find a framework/structure/step-by-step method to don't drown myself on my chaos haha

[Carlos MK]

3 minutes ago, meow_meow said:

I create literally imaginary boxes in my head where I put labels with categories on then, then put ideas/to-do lists/beliefs/memories into them. lol.

wow, that is impressive, can you develop a bit? Do you imagine actuall cubes? and they are there afterward? how do you categorize things?

You sparked my curiosity, I love to get to hear how other people minds work under the surface 

[Nahm]

@Carlos MK

Very relatable thread. I made a move years back from ‘in my head’, apps, on post it’s, pads of paper, etc, etc....to using One Note to capture all notes categorically, and using physical space for all else. I now have one main dreamboard, and use other dry erase boards for thinking things out / untangling things / arriving at clarity. I also have 2 large walls where I exercise, meditate, play instruments, sing & work out, which are painted with chalk paint. Tons of room to write whatever comes to mind while doing those activities. It’s worked great. In terms of having a clear & empty mind, creativity & clarity...I found nothing beats lots of physical ‘in front of you’ space. The vantage point is entirely different. Hope something there is useful, Godspeed.

[Carlos MK]

8 minutes ago, Nahm said:

@Carlos MK

Very relatable thread. I made a move years back from ‘in my head’, apps, on post it’s, pads of paper, etc, etc....to using One Note to capture all notes categorically, and using physical space for all else. I now have one main dreamboard, and use other dry erase boards for thinking things out / untangling things / arriving at clarity. I also have 2 large walls where I exercise, meditate, play instruments, sing & work out, which are painted with chalk paint. Tons of room to write whatever comes to mind while doing those activities. It’s worked great. In terms of having a clear & empty mind, creativity & clarity...I found nothing beats lots of physical ‘in front of you’ space. The vantage point is entirely different. Hope something there is useful, Godspeed.

Love where is going! 

could you elaborate on "capture all notes categorically" ? Do categories simply appear well defined in your mind intuitively and don't re-consider them? 

How do you keep oneNote organized? more closely, what is for you a book, tab and page, and how much you commit to each page?

sorry but those kind of thing is where I actually struggle.

do you go over your notes and clean things up?

thanks in advance

 

[Nahm]

20 minutes ago, Carlos MK said:

Love where is going! 

could you elaborate on "capture all notes categorically" ? Do categories simply appear well defined in your mind intuitively and don't re-consider them? 

How do you keep oneNote organized? more closely, what is for you a book, tab and page, and how much you commit to each page?

sorry but those kind of thing is where I actually struggle.

do you go over your notes and clean things up?

thanks in advance

 

I would just add as much as the insight was really, to a new tab or a related tab. I found it plays itself out as you go. I YouTubed any specific question and found one note to be well covered with short precise videos. That made it easier to just proceed without feeling I needed to understand how the app / program really functioned, as far as any bells & whistles. 

Yes, the categories get reconsidered & cleaned up, but naturally over time. Sleeping on it, then seeing the list of categories again, orders and connections come into focus. 

[Carlos MK]

you mean new page? 

@Nahm

[Nahm]

@Carlos MK

Yes, thanks. Maybe more so though, however it works best for you.  

[Espaim]

Man IDK maybe this will be helpful

If you get to the bottom line of organization it's sort of categorization + hierarquies

If you want to organize your mind you can start breaking down your thoughts and grouping them together according to a pre-defined template. If the template doesn't accomodate the incoming info you can start modifying the underlying template so new information fits.

If you are doubtful about where to put some piece of info I would just recommend to not overthink it. Just do whatever feels right. If that's not the case, follow the guidelines above.

My system: I use OneNote as Leo suggested in one of his videos.

I started with simple 3 categories. Resources, Goals and Diary. Then, as I was going further I found that I needed more categories to accomodate my spreadsheets and daily trackings, but this didn't really fit into my vision of what Diary is so I created "Tracking Tables". 

[hyruga]

I normally record my notes down under book title or video title or person eg Jordan Peterson and post them on online notes. I also update on blogs.

The thing is you have to trust yourself that you already exhibit some of the principles that you learnt. If you wish to recap, you simple relook at your notes again.

You must understand your ego will want you to create a powerful note taking system. It will distract you and take away your time from doing other things. Do not get neurotic about notes. Info is everywhere.

 

 

 

 

[Miss Hepburn]

Organize? Yeah, right.

The best I can do is what I started to do over a decade ago...and still do.

If a thought comes into my mind that I do NOT want.  ( ie, A memory from 20 yrs ago...when I was an a** last week...)
anything that makes me feel shame ---I say, NO!!! or STOP IT!
I will not tolerate unwanted , useless, and worse, negative thoughts in my head!

So far so good,  hmmm ..its been 15 yrs now.!  I'm the happiest person I know.

You must desire this - that is the key...focus and desire.

[zeroISinfinity]

I don't organize it, it's thrown into garbage can. 

But sometimes it is like this.

Edited August 2, 2020 by zeroISinfinity

[Carlos MK]

11 hours ago, Miss Hepburn said:

Organize? Yeah, right.

The best I can do is what I started to do over a decade ago...and still do.

If a thought comes into my mind that I do NOT want.  ( ie, A memory from 20 yrs ago...when I was an a** last week...)
anything that makes me feel shame ---I say, NO!!! or STOP IT!
I will not tolerate unwanted , useless, and worse, negative thoughts in my head!

So far so good,  hmmm ..its been 15 yrs now.!  I'm the happiest person I know.

You must desire this - that is the key...focus and desire.

I did not mention about negative thoughts, more about how to structure knowledge, ideas, and insights.

In a sidenote...

Although "its working" for you, this seems a low standard of working. in other words, screaming in your head NO  won't solve the problem of that coming to mind in the first place. I would say that if after 15 years of using a technique, you still have to stop thoughts of shame and negativity, the process must have room for improvement.

personally, I approach to this as follows:

 bad though coming in -> Where does this come from? What is the actual purpose of this thought? Is there a logical reason to have this thought? what does this remind me of?

Answers to these questions are things like "something went wrong in the past which is similar to Now", "is a protection mechanism", "Im tired" "this happened to me and I learned to act this way" etc pop to mind, DEAL WITH IT!

this way, that thought loses energy, and unravel your psychology.

to say "NO" to thought is like negating a part of yourself, the part of yourself that put it there. Is resistance, unwillingness to understand what are you about.

in simpler words, ignoring a problem does not solve it.

I got too hunged on this answer, I'm passionate about this kind of topic and help people with this sort of thing hehe

I hope it helps.

[Carlos MK]

2 hours ago, JohnWell said:

The Zettelkasten method is awesome.

This book explains the method and how its creator became the most prolific author in sociology research writing 2 books a year for 30 years.

I hugely recommend it.

I kid you not, this book was recommended to me 3 times yesterday alone, I also started to look into software such as Obsidian to integrate this framework.

I totally will get into it.!