Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the things you have to do? Do you ever get the niggling feeling that you may have forgotten something important?
I constantly felt like this until I read Daniel Levitin’s ‘The Organised Mind’ back in 2018.
There is a lot of information in the book, but one idea stood out from the rest: there is immense value in externalising your mind.
What does this mean?
Whenever you remember an important task, immediately write it down; either on paper, or in a to-do list app.
The act of taking a thought out of your head—and putting it in a place where you can easily access it in the future—frees up mental bandwidth. You no longer need to expend energy remembering upcoming tasks.
I found this particularly helpful on weekends. When a thought popped into my head about something I need to do first thing on Monday, I immediately took out my phone and wrote it down. I could then focus on my weekend.
This idea may sound plain, and it is. But it’s real power appears when it becomes an automatic habit.