How To Build A Second Brain? (Autism and Executive Functioning Hacks)

How would you like a second brain? Not a new one as a replacement. I mean, another one, in addition to the one you've already got to help you with all the things your current brain finds difficult. Sounds good in theory, but can it work? What technology can we use to build a second brain and outsource some executive function? Today's video is sponsored by the short form app for book summaries. Hi everyone, Paul Micallef here from Autism from the Inside. I make weekly videos sharing the human sid

e of autism so make sure you hit subscribe to get the latest content. So I often talk about executive function hacks and I'm always on the lookout for new ways to effectively leverage my unique autistic brain. So recently I read a book called Building a Second Brain. Well, actually technically I didn't read it as such. I used the short form app to read a summary and even then I didn't technically read the summary. I listened to the audio version which gave me a detailed overview in about 30 minu

tes, which means I got the value of a seven and a half hour audio book in 30 minutes. So the book had a couple of really good ideas which I'll share in a minute, but the main thing I took away from the summary is a strong conviction that I am not the intended audience of this particular book, in the sense that a lot of the advice did not apply to my personal situation. That said, some of the overarching ideas around how to use technology, how to create an external storage system to help manage i

nformation in today's world, that was all really good stuff and extremely thought provoking, which means now my job is to take those high level concepts and figure out for myself what they might look like in my life, which is one of the most common autistic dilemmas. Really good solid generic advice works for a lot of people, but it often doesn't work for me, which means I have to go back to the drawing board and redesign something that actually does work for me. So that's part of the reason I o

ften prefer a summary because the specific detail of the specific method doesn't always add a lot of value for me if I'm intending to create my own process anyway. So in that sense, I use this piece of technology to outsource a lot of mental work. And instead of having to filter through all of this immense amount of information myself, I quickly get the key takeaways and can save my mental energy for more important things. The summary even included comparisons to other books on similar topics, l

ike the book, Getting Things Done and The Effective Executive. And one thing they all have in common is recognizing the increasing problem that many of us have these days of trying to deal with more and more and more information in the world. Having to process and filter more information increases the demands on our brains, including the executive function load. So wouldn't it be nice if we could outsource some of this using technology? Now, there are lots of little technology hacks to help with

executive function, like getting a calendar to remind you of your schedule or using AI to help you write an email. This concept of building a second brain, however, in this context specifically refers to an external storage system to help you manage, organize, sort and track your information. In other words, reducing the load of your memory, especially your working memory, to get all of that information, all of your ideas out of your head and store them in a place where you can easily access th

em later. So to give you a sense of the kind of generic process for this, the book basically outlines a storage structure that has six high level categories. There's an initial inbox, which is where you can externally save any idea, any thought, any article, any quote, anything that you think you would like to be able to access later. There's a management folder, there's a current goals folder, there's an ongoing engagements folder, there's a topic of interest folder and like a hold not right no

w archive kind of folder. And the intent of creating this second brain external storage system is to kind of mirror the creative process of getting all of the information in more and more information, more and more ideas, putting it all together, putting it all where you can see it all and access it all. And the idea is that then it allows you to make connections between all of the things that you're currently working on, essentially expanding your working memory. And then you can be creative an

d join the dots and summarize things and actually create something out of all of that information. So that sounds good in theory, doesn't it? But what I find personally is when I try to do that, I end up collecting way too much information and end up getting stuck in that phase. It looks like an overwhelmed messy inbox, my list of possible ideas is just unmanageable, there's way too many and the whole system, even though I've expanded my working memory using this external storage system, still e

nds up being basically just a cluttered mess. So taking the good parts of the book and trying to apply it to something that works for me, I've realized that what I need to focus on is the prioritizing step. I've also realized that electronic systems of storing information lead me to just collect and collect and collect and never be able to find anything again. So what I do instead is I literally write things out on paper and stick them on my wall. And that way I can hold every idea in my hand on

a scrap of paper. It feels a little bit more real that way. And then I can physically move them around in order to sort them. And it starts becoming more obvious what the common themes are and how to simplify it into something actually meaningful. There is huge value in this simplifying summarizing process to make the information more manageable and usable. To give you a personal example, a few years back, I had a big trip to Canberra doing some advocacy work. We'd lined up meetings with dozens

of ministers and senators. It took months to arrange and it was all happening right now in one or two days, meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting. Thankfully, we had a really good support team, which means that 15 minutes before meeting with the minister in charge of whatever it is, I got a simple summary sheet. This is who we're meeting. This is what they're in charge of. This is what they care about. This is what they're known for. These are the messages that we most wanna focus o

n, bearing in mind that some of these meetings were like 10 or 15 minutes. Getting a time at all with some of these senior politicians is incredibly difficult. And they too have to deal with an incredible amount of information coming at them from all sides. So what I learned from that, from a personal perspective, is that the more information is not necessarily better. And to help with executive function, if I get too much information, then I'm gonna use all my executive function resources, sift

ing through it, filtering through it, trying to prioritize what is important and what's not important. So that's where I use some of the strategies I've outlined in this video, like an external storage system, where my ideas are out of my head and literally on little scraps of paper, and also utilizing tools like short form to pre-filter the information before it even gets in my brain. And this might just be a personal thing, but for me, the satisfaction of finally getting to the end of the proc

ess, where I've gone through the divergent phase of collecting everything and reading up about everything, and then I've filtered it down and summarized it and come up with an essence of an idea that I can actually use, that just feels amazing, because it means I can just clear my mind and disregard all of that stuff that I was previously filling it with, and just keep the one important thing. So anyway, they are some of the things that I use to help with my own executive function. I'm intereste

d to hear what works for you. Do you have other tools that you use or other hacks that you've found to utilize technology to help you with executive function? I'd love to hear your experience in the comments. If you'd like to try the short format, you can get a free trial using the link in the description. Otherwise, thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed this video, and I'll see you again next week, bye.