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Defragment your mind
7. In the beginning, you may not know what to write so simply write – “I do not know what to
write”. You may write this out a few times but at some point, you will start to write at the same
speed as you are thinking.

8. Once you have completed the time, read through what you have written. The majority of
what is on your page might mean nothing, however, there will be important learnings that stand
out – use a different colour pen to circle or highlight those.

9. Write down the top 3 to 5 learnings. If they are actionable, you might even have written the
solutions. Take note – and act!

10. Do this every 3 to 6 months.

Your Mind – The Human ‘Software’
The capacity to remember the past is an integral part of human existence. Without it, you would
not be able to drive to work, hold a meaningful conversation with your family, read a book or
prepare a meal. Understanding what memory is and how it works is a fundamental goal of
modern neuroscience.

Many thousands of years before the advent of computers, Plato famously compared our
memory to one of its predecessors, a wax tablet that is blank at birth and slowly takes on the
impression of the events from our life. Only in the pas hundred years have psychologists
developed techniques to study our recollections of the past. What is clear is that the human
memory is a lot more complicated than Plato had imagined.

The human brain and the mind within it are the most complicated yet incredible objects in the
known universe. How the brain and mind function together is a fascinating area of
neuroscience filling many books on the subject.

A baby’s brain development is a complex process that continues throughout pregnancy. At just
six weeks, the embryo’s brain and nervous system begin to develop, although the complex parts
of the brain continue to grow and develop through the end of pregnancy, with development
ending around the age of 25.
The brain begins with the neural tube, formed in the first month of the embryo’s growth. The
neural tube closes around week 6 or 7, at which point the brain separates into three parts: front
brain, midbrain, and hindbrain. These three parts will eventually develop into the specialized
parts of the brain, and the cerebrum will fold into the left and right halves of the brain.

From the time the neural tube closes, around week 7, the brain will grow at a rate of 250,000
neurons per minute for the next 21 weeks. Ultrasounds can reveal the embryo moving as early as
6 weeks after conception (or 8 pregnancy weeks), detecting the electrical impulses that govern
movement and indicating that the brain is beginning to function. The 1st trimester lasts from the
moment of conception and up to 13 weeks. During the first trimester, the brain develops rapidly
and makes up nearly half of the fetus’s weight. For comparison, by the time a baby is born, the
brain is only 10 percent of their body weight. In the first trimester, the brain will grow millions of
neurons, which connect across synapses to direct movement and growth.