Write to: train@sortedhead.com
SESSION 1 SUMMARY · 4 hours
Why your brain is the
wrong place to store your tasks.
An introduction to Sort it Out — grounded in behavioral science, neuroscience, and a framework that has been proven to work across industries and roles for decades.
The problem isn’t how much you have to do.
Most people believe they need more time, better tools, or more discipline. In reality, the issue is simpler and more fundamental: the brain was never designed to manage the volume and variety of inputs that modern work demands.
We have more input channels than ever — email, Slack, texts, meetings, ad-hoc requests — and no clear boundary between work and life. The result is a constant low-grade cognitive load that makes it hard to think clearly, act decisively, or rest properly.
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
— Parkinson’s Law
The solution isn’t more hours. It’s creating mental space — what Juliet Funt calls “wide open space” — the oxygen that allows everything else to catch fire. A worried, cluttered mind struggles to be innovative or strategic. A clear mind can respond to the same pressures with accuracy and creativity.
Need a helping hand to start?
SYSTEM 1 VS SYSTEM 2
Who’s in the driving seat?
The brain has two operating models… click to read
System 1 driven by our subconscious (fast, automatic, instinctive) and System 2 driven by our conscious (slow, deliberate, logical). Most of our daily decisions run on System 1 — which is why habits and systems matter so much. The techniques presented in the training are designed to offload routine decisions so System 2 stays free for real thinking.
WORKING MEMORY LIMIT
I will remember… will you?
We can hold approximately 4 things… click to read
in our working memory at once. When we try to keep open commitments “in our head,” we’re burning precious cognitive resource on storage — instead of thinking. The getting things done principle: use your mind for having ideas, not for holding them.
STRESS AND CORTISON
Chemistry in action
A stressful situation actively wipes… click to read
short-term memory — which is exactly why you forget things in busy moments. Negative thinking triggers cortisol release; positive thinking triggers serotonin. Your mindset isn’t just a feeling: it’s chemistry, and it’s manageable.
REST AND CREATIVITY
Boredom is bad… is it really?
Rest is not the opposite of productivity… click to read
— it’s a condition for it. Boredom is a natural part of the creative process: the mind needs silence to consolidate data and generate conclusions. Building recovery into your workflow is not laziness; it’s cognitive science.
MINDSET AND BOUNDRIES
The invisible levers of productivity.
Before touching a single task management tool, this session covers two foundational topics that most productivity courses skip entirely.
Growth mindset
Intelligence is not fixed — it’s malleable… click to read
A fixed mindset shows up in language: “I can’t do it,” “I’m not good at this.” A growth mindset reframes: “I’m not good at it yet.”
This isn’t positive thinking for its own sake — it changes what neurochemicals your brain releases, which changes how you learn and perform. Praising effort rather than innate ability has been shown by Carol Dweck’s research to significantly improve motivation and resilience.
Boundary setting
What happens to us happens because… click to read
we allow it. Setting boundaries is not selfishness — it’s self-respect, and it’s a practical productivity skill. The session covers how to identify your limits, communicate them clearly using “I” statements, define consequences, and enforce them consistently. Without enforcement, a boundary is just a request.
Five steps. One reliable system.
ADORE works because it externalizes your commitments into a trusted system — so your brain stops trying to hold onto them. The five steps form a loop you run continuously, created based on the David Allen’s GTD® Methodology.
Acknowledge
Get everything out of your head…
and into an inbox. Anything that has your attention — tasks, ideas, worries, commitments — have to be acknowledge and noted, not in your brain but outside of it. Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
Dig into
For each item, ask…
what exactly I need to do next here? Do I need to do anything? If yes: what’s the very next action? If it takes under 2 minutes, do it now. If not, defer or delegate it.
Organize
Park reminders in the right place…
calendar for time-specific items, next-actions list for everything else. A project is anything that requires more than one action to complete — give it its own entry.
Re-check
Step back and look at your system…
from a higher perspective. Daily for your calendar and next-actions list. Weekly for the full system — so it stays fresh and trusted.
Engage
Pick your next action consciously…
— based on value, context, available energy, and available time. Your trusted system makes this easy: the decisions have already been made.
STEP 1 IN DEPTH
ACKNOWLEDGE it to take it out of your head
The first step into sorting things out is acknowledging thoughts that keep “nagging” you — note everything that grasps your attention, physical and digital, personal and professional. Remove it out of your head to stop stressing out “to remember” and make space for creativity.
Let it jump in front
You can’t empty what you… click to read
haven’t identified. To clear your head out of a noise you need to observe your thoughts and pay attention to what they say.
Acknowledge that something it “bothering” you and let it “jump” in front of you for a second so you can understand it.
Note it down
Write it down and… click to read
let it go! “I’ll remember it” is both unreliable (stress wipes out memory) and costly (it occupies mental space that could be used for actual thinking and creative work).