466. Declutter Your Mind: Behavioral Economics for a More Organized Brain

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer explores the art of organizing your brain using behavioral economics principles. Feeling overwhelmed and scattered? You're not alone. Melina shares practical strategies to help streamline your mental processes, reduce stress, and boost productivity, drawing from behavioral economics insights. Originally aired in January 2020, this episode remains as relevant as ever, offering timeless advice on decluttering both your physical and digital spaces.

In this episode:

• Discover the impact of clutter on decision-making and how it leads to poor choices.
• Learn about the "chocolate cake study" and its implications for understanding brain overload.
• Explore practical tips for decluttering your workspace and digital life to enhance focus.
• Gain insights into productivity tools like Gantt charts, Trello, and the snooze function in Gmail.
• Understand how to use the KonMari method and other organizational strategies for a more streamlined life.

00:00:00 - Introduction Melina Palmer introduces the episode and the relevance of organizing your brain with behavioral economics.

00:05:00 - The Chocolate Cake Study Discussion on how mental overload leads to poor decision-making using a famous study as an example.

00:15:12 - Impact of Clutter How clutter affects stress levels, productivity, and decision-making.

00:22:36 - Decluttering Strategies Tips for organizing physical and digital spaces, including the Konmari method and digital decluttering.

00:26:17 - Productivity Tools Introduction to tools like Gantt charts, Trello, and Gmail snooze function to manage tasks effectively.

00:35:12 - Conclusion, What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn.

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Check out and get your copies of Melina’s Books. 

Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:

• The Microstress Effect, by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon
• Indistractable, by Nir Eyal
• Come Up For Air, by Nick Sonnenberg
• Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes
• Work Well, Play More, by Marcey Rader

Top Recommended Next Episode: An Overview of Lazy Brain Biases (ep 53)

Already Heard That One? Try These: 

• Overwhelmed Brain and its impact on decision making (ep 358)
• Cassie Holmes Interview (ep 257)
• Planning Fallacy (ep 346)
• Decision Fatigue (ep 244)
• Leidy Klotz Interview (ep 322)

Other Important Links: 

Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter