Have you ever had that time where you wanted to make sure you didn’t forget something? And so you put a Post-It note on the mirror so you’d be reminded in the morning, or you placed the package right in front of the door so you’d have to step over it to leave the house. Maybe you’ve used variations of these techniques to remind yourself of important tasks or items you need to remember. But why are they even necessary?
Our minds are great at a lot of things. But trying to juggle all the commitments we’ve made, and the resulting tasks that need to be done, is not the best use of our mental capacity. And in the speed and craziness of today’s world, without external reminders, it’s only a matter of time before things start sliding through the cracks.
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”
― David Allen
David Allen, in his popular Getting Things Done book, makes the point — and one I’ve found true — that our minds aren’t the greatest places for storing all the things we need to do. His suggestion is that instead of mentally juggling all the things we don’t want to forget, we should rather learn to get these things out of our head and into some kind of external system. Because once they’re out of our head, we’ll have more space to focus on whatever we’re actually working on, instead of subconsciously trying not to forget all the other things we need to do.
Ad Hoc Mind Dumps
For me, one simple practice I’ve found helpful is called a ‘mind dump.’ It’s simply taking a sheet of paper (or digital document) and simply writing down all the different things that are on my mind — big things, little things, anything that is bouncing around in my head. Then once everything’s on paper, I can determine what needs to be done next (if anything).
It’s not complicated, and doesn’t have to take that long, but just the act of getting everything out in the open allows me to process them more quickly. It also provides peace of mind that there’s not something big I’m forgetting. I’ve also noticed that things seem much more manageable when I can see them listed out on a sheet of paper, instead of trying to keep tabs on everything as they bounce around inside my head.
Trusted Systems
Beyond ad hoc mind dumps, I’ve also found immense value in being able to regularly get things out of my head and into trusted systems that can hold all the things I need to do (or remember), without needing to hold it all in memory.
For some people, this could be as simple as a paper to-do list, a calendar, and somewhere to store reference material (e.g. a filing cabinet), or their digital equivalents. The benefit of having some sort of system that you can use to store all the things you need to do, remember, or reference someday, is that it reduces the amount of things you have to keep in your head at any given time. You don’t have to worry about forgetting something, or letting something fall through the cracks, and so your mind can stop trying to not forget them and can focus on the work at hand.
Sounds great, right? But in order for this to work, the system needs to be a trusted system. Even if you have the best tools, and the most efficient system in place, if it’s not something you trust, it’s not going alleviate your mind from subconsciously trying to hold on to the ‘important’ things you don’t want to forget.
So how do you create a system that you trust?
The first thing is it needs to be easy to use. If there’s a certain tool or technique that you find is easier, or feels more natural, use it. For instance, some people find legals pads and paper calendars the tools of choice when they need to keep track of things. Others prefer software and digital tools. Whatever your preference is, the main thing is it should be something you’ll actually use. Because if there’s friction, it will keep you from using it to track everything, which is a vital component to this.
For instance, I use a few digital tools to track the various things going on. Currently, I’m using Todoist to track all my various projects and next actions, Evernote for storing notes and reference material, and Google Calendar for meetings, deadlines, and other day-specific commitments. These tools work for me, but there are numerous other tools out there that will work just as well, if not better, for other individuals. It’s just a matter of find tools that work well for you.
Another characteristic of a good system is it’s comprehensive. If you only track some things, but don’t track others, if will be difficult to mentally let go of the things you know you need to do remember. But if everything’s in the system, and you know you’ll see what you need to see when you need to, you’ll be able to let go of subconsciously holding on to things you don’t want to forget.
But in order to let go, you’ll also need to create regular rhythms of review. If everything goes into the system, but you never look at what’s in there, you’re not going to be able to trust it. But if you’re confident that you’ll be regularly looking at the list of items to do, or at your calendar — and that everything you need to do is on them — you’ll be better able to trust your system, and mentally let go of whatever you put in it.
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I don’t know what you have bouncing around in your head right now. But if it starts to get overwhelming, one place to start is doing a simple mind dump. Try getting all your thoughts down on paper, and see if it makes any difference. And if you don’t have any kind of system in place to store all the commitments and tasks that you need to follow through on, the next step would be to start looking at how you could create one that works for you.
The goal isn’t to create more work for ourselves, but rather to create systems we can use to effectively hold all the things on our minds. Because by getting these things out of our head and into trusted systems where we know we’ll see them again, we free up mental space to focus on whatever we’re doing in the moment, instead of being preoccupied with all the things we don’t want to forget.