Wtf Pooh Bear

So, I decided to outsource my brain.

I couldn't find an app that did what I wanted or was customizable enough for me to fake it. Therefore I built an analog external brain to do my thinking for me.

First, I bought a small, 100-or-so page notebook. It was about eight bucks at my Local Corporate Book Retailer.

Then, I logicked out all the possibilities I might have trouble braining, and started adding each step to the book -- kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure novel.

Here's an example path, which starts with me knowing what I want, and the analog brain telling me how to get there. I twisted my ankle a couple weeks ago and keep forgetting to do things to make it better, so here's my solution:

[image: Do you know what you want? Yes -> 1, No -> 32. Yes is circled]

Yes, analog brain, I know what I want! Let me flip to page 1.

[Image of Page 1: What do you want to do? Exercise -> 2 is circled. Other options include Read -> 13, Watch something -> 20, Eat ->31, Be creative -> 25, Have an adventure ->26, Clean something ->28, Learn something->29.]

Still know what I want, so I flip to page 2.

[Image page 2: What kind of exercise do you want to do? PT -> 5 is circled. Other options include Weights -> 3, Cardio -> 4, Yoga -> 9, Something quick -> 10, Hiking -> 11, Adventure -> 12]

Skipping some pages now! Since this is meant to bounce me around, it doesn't make sense to try and read it in order. (On the plus side, that makes it super easy to add new options to any part of the tree).

[Image page 5: What kind of PT? Ankle ->6 is circled. Other options include Knee->6a, Neck->7, Shoulders->8.]

(When I first numbered the pages, 6 and 6a werw stuck together, whoooops)

[Image page 6: A list of ankle PT exercises]

Eyyyyy my external brain showed me how to do my flippin' PT so my ankle stops hurting! Yay!

But what about when I don't know wtf is wrong or wtf I want? There's an app analog brain for that! (Yes I'm aware its called a decision tree or process flow or what have you. Let me have this).

[Image: Do you know what you want? No->32 is circled]

No, spacebook, idfk what's wrong, I can't brain today.

[Image page 32: How are you feeling? In pain ->33 is circled. Other options include Overstimulated->37, Understimulated, Panicky->43.]

(As you can see, I have plans to add a page for overstimulated but have not done it yet.)

Oh yeah my ankle kinda hurts, maybe I can do something about that...

[Image of page 33: What kind of pain? Knee/ankle/neck/etc ->35 is circled. Other options include Menstrual nonsense->34, Head->38.]

[Image of page 35: Joint/old injury pain: Take advil, Ice or heat, Massage, Foam roll, Warm bath, PT exercises. Under the last option are subsets Ankle->6 (circled), Neck->6a, Knees->7.]

...Aaaand now I'm back around to my list of ankle PT exercises! And I didnt have to think at all!

Since I know how hard it is to Think Up Stuff (oh how I know), for anyone who wants to give this a shot, here are some additional pages from my analog brain:

The main thing is to think about your own personal needs, and don't be afraid to break it down into specifics!

As you can see, I have a lot of problems with pain, especially head pain. So instead of creating one solutions page for If Headache, I determine what kind of headache I'm dealing with, and then create a unique solutions page for each one.

Yes, there will be some overlap -- "take advil" is pretty much always going to be on there -- but having separate pages for sinus headache vs tension migraine means i don't have to THINK about which one I have. I just go to the correct page and do what it tells me.

Think about your own needs, particularly where you get mentally tripped up or stalled on your way to Doing A Thing. And think about your goals, too! I want to start reading some of the ten million books I already own, so I made a bunch of different pages listing my books by genre. I pick a page based on what I'm in the mood for, and then instead of looking at my OVERWHELMING OVERSTUFFED BOOKCASE OF DESTINY and nope-ing out, I look at a list of 10 or so titles and say, "Ah yes, Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean sounds perfect!"

So anyway. This is still a work in progress, but eventually I want to add some color coding, as well as attach some labeled tabs for frequent-use pages so I can skip straight to them when needed (like the panic attack treatment page, for instance).

I literally did not notice until someone pointed it out. I think my eyes glazed over when I saw a lot of spew from True Art anon again. (Look, I get a lot of asks. I don't read them carefully if they're obviously nonsense other than skimming for hate speech and such.)