5 Ways to Free Up Room on Your Brain’s Hard Drive
Lynn was tapped to head up the project team for a major company restructuring. She began her first team meeting by delegating steps and due dates to the various department heads. That’s when she noticed that one member, Bob, wasn’t writing anything down. Lynn knew Bob was a competent guy. Yet, given the importance of this project, his casual approach concerned her.
So after the meeting, she pulled Bob aside. “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job,” Lynn began, “but I noticed you’re weren’t writing down any of your assignments.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Bob replied pointing to his head, “it’s all right up here.”
Lynn was hardly reassured. “That’s great Bob, but what happens if you lose your mind?”
You may not lose your mind, but are you getting the mental “memory full” message a bit more often these days? With a computer, there is always the option to add memory or get a bigger hard drive. Even if we could rely on memory, besides not being foolproof, there’s the problem of brain clutter, a concern that led Albert Einstein to conclude that one should, “never bother to memorize anything that is easily accessible.” So, what can you do?
Since the closest analogy to the human brain is the computer, it makes sense to look to it for solutions to the problem of brain overload. But first, it’s important to fully understand the problem.
Here are some of the unwelcome things that can happen when a computer’s hard drive gets too-full. As you can see, when people try handling more information and performing more functions than we’re programmed to handle, similar things can happen:
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The problem of a too-full hard drive lends itself to a variety of solutions. These same solutions can apply to the problem of a too-full mind. Here are 5 overwhelm-busting techniques humans can borrow from the computer:
1. Reboot: If you’re getting a lot of error messages or your computer is running slowly, sometimes simply restarting or “rebooting” can help. This same technique works well for people. Sometimes the best thing you can do when you feel overloaded is to take a break. Go for a walk. Find a quieter or just different space to work. If you’re experiencing major “brain strain,” it may be time for a vacation.
2. Delete unnecessary files: With a computer, you can free up space by sending unnecessary files to the trash. How about all those “junk files” on your mental hard drive? Do you keep reminding yourself to do things that you think you “should do” but don’t really need or want to do – like arranging your vacation photos into a photo album, alphabetizing your bookshelf, sending out holiday cards? When you “should on yourself” you’re not only piling guilt onto the overload but all this extraneous stuff is taking up valuable mental real estate. Do yourself a favour – delete them.
3. Call the Help desk: When you experience a major computer glitch, you call the Help desk. The same is true with mental overload. Delegate whenever you can. Don’t manage anyone at work? If you live with anyone over the age of five, you can almost always delegate more at home.
4. Download: Many “must keep” files that don’t need to reside on your hard drive can be downloaded onto a disk. You may not be able to download your mental To-Do list onto a disk (at least not yet!), but you can achieve the same effect by getting it out of your head and onto paper. Keep your mind from getting overloaded in the first place by immediately downloading things as they pop up. As we say at Time/Design, “If you think it, ink it.”
If your mental hard drive is exceptionally full, you’ll want to start with a Brain Download. The Brain Download is an exercise to fully and completely empty your mind of all the things you need or want to do, both in your work and personal life. Big stuff, little stuff. Things you have to do now, things you don’t have time to do right now, but are nonetheless taking up precious mind space.
To do a thorough download, allow at least 30 minutes. At some point in the process, you might hit the “overwhelm wall.” Seeing how much you have to do can make you want to throw down your pencil in despair, but if you push through this wall and continue writing, ultimately you’ll experience the benefits of a well-functioning computer: faster processing of information, fewer errors, less need to call the Help desk, and a greatly diminished risk that your system will crash.
But humans have a definite edge on computers. Downloading our brain allows us to enjoy additional benefits like less procrastination, greater creativity and the peace of mind knowing that nothing will slip through the cracks.
5. Defragment: The defragmenting function on a computer rearranges files so your programs run faster. Right now, the “files” on your Download list are a jumbled list of To Do items. You’ll want to “defrag” these items by organizing them into their proper category, for example, work projects vs. home projects, things you need to do on a certain day versus those that are due by a certain day and so on.
Now, put things in perspective by prioritizing your list. On the same list, you probably have things like buy new collar for Fluffy next to develop strategic plan. The simple process of sorting through your list and putting each item in its proper priority “file” can be tremendously freeing.
Finally, just as the defragmenting process on a computer checks the drive for errors, taking the time to organize your activities helps ensure that nothing will slip through the cracks!
In today’s world, mental overwhelm is a fact of life. Fortunately, by applying some simple techniques from the computer world, you can avoid some of the consequences of a too-full brain!
©2006 Time/Design. To learn more about Time/Design’s Focus Management tools, training and coaching, call 800-637-9942 or visit www.timedesign.com
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