Understanding executive functions and how brains perform this important but often invisible work is a critical step to becoming an expert on how your brain works to do just about everything task-oriented and designed to keep your life in motion. In a perfect world, our brains fire at warp speed with low stress and ample focus on our determined needs (sleep, food, connection with others, etc). Our executive functions rapidly run through the entire decision-making process - the who, what, when, where, why, and how of getting stuff done. The brain can intake goals and ideas, produce plans of action for continuity, audit based on alternative scenarios, and execute an ordered array of tasks from start to finish. 

Many of the brains I work with have come to coaching with the following frustration: the required effort to complete a mundane task is exhausting, especially when multiple tasks, multiple stimulants, or multiple stressors are present. What may look or seem simple to some can be a minefield for others. How many of you have a friend who can “just do it” with ease? 

The challenge to mentally intake to-dos and produce action items is a typical stumbling block to getting things done - add in a life where school stress has diminished your sleep, or the kids are sick and you have an important meeting, or even the smoke alarm is beeping while you’re trying to clean the kitchen. The environmental demands we face on a daily basis all require valuable energy to navigate. When that energy is depleted, it becomes challenging to move anything else forward or to even recall the next item on our mental list.

If you have trouble remembering what needs to be done and when, your brain’s working memory is working overtime. Completing those lists, recalling all of the steps or even setting reminders -. When we find it particularly challenging to catalog and retrieve those details efficiently, the laundry gets mildewy in the washer, homework gets left on the kitchen table, expense reports are not turned in on time, the water bill is late, your thesis is months behind, and your vacation dissolves for lack of planning ahead. 

So, what helps you remember to remember? “Write it Down.” It sounds repetitive, but there really is some great brain science behind the classic advice. Your brain simply holds onto information better after you've written it down, and while some of you might argue that a computer is king, research published by the Journal of Educational Psychology confirms that any computer advantage with respect to working memory is gone after 24 hours.

So if you are hoping to remember what you typed, let’s make sure you first find ways to be intentional about how you record your thoughts externally. Capturing your data, thoughts, tasks and goals in a way that helps you remember where the information is, what it means, and when you need to use - I, for one, double-dip in my solutions. I prefer a paper notebook, but I also use OneNote from Mircrosoft because I can use the stylus to handwrite my notes OR I can type them, and it has a built-in tagging and task application so that I can more easily tie the information to any actions.

Here are some great ideas for how you can record your “to-dos” and important information for recall. Remember, picking an avenue that you will actually use is key to your successful retrieval: 

• Make it visual: Draw a picture diagram to jog your memory with pictures

• Make it verbal: place a voice recording in your phone; sing a song, make a rhyme

• Make it sharable: Email yourself; take a picture

• Make it portable: Use the notes app in your phone; use a notebook that fits in your bag or hand

• Make it moveable: Use a sticky note or notebook to write it out;

• Make it Urgent: Create an alarm in your phone to push the reminder for immediate tasks (medicines, calling someone, starting dinner).

• Make it Communal: Enlist the help of a trusted human (partner, co-worker, relative, friend, etc.)

At the end of the day gather your resources and collect your tasks in a format that makes sense for you. Keep in mind that if you won’t think to use it, it does you no good. Stumped on what to try? Think about what you most consistently open, use or look to for capturing information. 

If lists aren’t the problem but being able to execute the list is- come back for the next post on the art of activation, better known as “getting started.”