“Where the hell is my wallet?” Then a sudden chill, thinking of credit cards, drivers license and a little cash in it. I always put keys, wallet and anything I value in my desk drawer. Consequently, my “stuff” can only be either in my pockets or my desk drawer. I value my wife, but she didn’t like the drawer; she chose a different place so I could find her in emergencies.
Life has become all about forgetting and remembering things. I hear people talk about their memory being better when they were younger. Sorry, I don’t buy that excuse unless you have been diagnosed with some form of dementia. What it is, is TMI – Too Much Information. Every day we are inundated with information from too many sources. Our senses are flooded with the sheer glut of incoming info shells exploding all around us. I see eggs frying in a skillet and think of “This is your brain on TMI.”
How much is too much information?
According to this study Americans Consume 34 GB of Data Daily. Since most of the data is from electronic media, this is the obvious place to look for overload problems. The 2009 Report on American Consumers,” estimates that between 1980 and 2008, bytes consumption rose 350%, for an average annual growth rate of 5.4%.
When the signal to noise ratio is out of balance, especially as it is now, what do we do?
Tune it out.
Most people do this intuitively. For those of us who process information using all five senses, this will only work in certain situations. If the environment won’t leave you, you leave the environment. Monitor situations where useless information is drowning out what you need to remember.
About using all five senses – Don’t stop smelling the coffee.
Some of the most popular blogs are about simplifying your life. Are we on the cusp of a gadget backlash?
Think of all you could get done if you didn’t have so many gadgets to help you get things done.
Habit is The Bitch of Memory.
Never put anything where you don’t ordinarily keep it. This is the best way I’ve found to remember daily trivial things. Recently, I laid aside my reading glasses for only a moment to do something else. It took two days to find them.
Write it down.
Of course you know this, but do you practice it?
This is the absolute best way to remember anything that needs to be done.
Just don’t forget where you keep your notes. What works best for me is simple pen and paper. I carry a little pad everywhere I go. In a jam I write in my hand- a small child or friend’s skin will do in a pinch. The simple act of writing it down juggles the memory even if you do lose your notes. Don’t allow the child to run away and wash.
Mnemonics have never worked for me. I can never remember the trigger word that is supposed to associate what I’m supposed to remember.
Chuck it all.
Turn on, tune in, drop out. At some point we all need to decompress. We don’t need to go retro and stand in opposition of the establishment. We do need to remove ourselves from the onslaught of TMI, even just for a while.
Turn on, tune in, drop out was coined by Timothy Leary, best known as an LSD advocate for spiritual and emotional benefits. In his autobiography Flashbacks Timothy Leary tried to set the record straight about this sixties phrase.
“Turn on’ meant go within to activate your neural and genetic equipment. Become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them. Drugs were one way to accomplish this end. ‘Tune in’ meant interact harmoniously with the world around you – externalize, materialize, express your new internal perspectives. Drop out suggested an elective, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. ‘Drop Out’ meant self-reliance, a discovery of one’s singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change. Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean ‘Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity.”
Peace. And good memory.
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With the advent of the Internet and its availability we really are being overloaded with information. I also feel that it promotes ADD/ADHD type symptoms. It's good to take it easy on ourselves and give ourselves time to absorb things.
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