The human brain is incredibly powerful and capable of dealing with a flood of information every day. Our memory is a remarkably complex process that enables us to remember some of our earliest childhood moments to what we had for breakfast today. However, using your memory to try and remember key dates, projects and tasks is a generally a bad idea.
One of the most important habits that you can build into your daily life is to write everything down. Try not store anything in your head. This is a simple, but very powerful habit to develop. And by writing things down, you will realize a number of key benefits:
1. You are less likely to forget
Most people have to deal with lots of new inputs every day e.g. buy some milk, write that report, call the doctor’s office etc. Some of those things need to be handled the same day and others need to get done at a later date. When you write those things down, you are less likely to forget anything and you significantly improve your chances of getting those things done at the right time.
2. You reduce any sense of anxiety or overwhelm
The more things you try to remember, the harder it becomes to keep track of all them. Your mind gets filled with a sense of information overload and you find yourself constantly checking to see if you haven’t forgotten something. When you write things down, you get them out of your head and can enjoy a more relaxed and calm mind.
3. You can retrieve your tasks more efficiently
When you try to store things in your head, you spend unnecessary time trying to remember where you left off. And you also waste time trying to determine what you need to handle right now. When you write things down, you can setup the right reminders to ensure that you handle the right tasks at the right time, and that you also have clear information on exactly what your next steps are.
4. You clear your mind for more important thinking
When you try to store things in your head, it’s very difficult to think clearly. You end up trying to juggle too many things in your head. When you write things down, you can clear your mind for creative thinking, problem solving, project planning etc.
This is habit that will take a little time to develop, but with the right strategy and tools, you can implement a reliable system that is easy and simple to use on a daily basic. And once you experience that clear mind, you will never want to go back.
Do You Always Write Things Down?
What do you think? How has writing things down helped you?
