Aha! Moment Monday
You’ve got it down to a science. You walk into the house and pop your keys in the bowl. It’s automatic and you always know where your keys are when it’s time to leave.
Daniel J. Levitin, in The Organized Mind, calls it, “cognitive prosthetics”; the enabler to ease the mental burden of trying to keep track of where those keys are.
Then there are those days when nothing seems to stick in the memory block. Did I lock the door? Did I pack my passport? Did I leave food for the cat? Am I losing my mind? What will end this frustration of feeling so scattered?
Aha! ~ Create a system
We’re all of one universal mind so when you feel like you’re losing yours, we’ve got your back! However, when you’re out of routine – you’re interrupted during a usual task, in a new environment, or distracted by your thoughts or environment – it can be overwhelming thinking through the smallest of tasks.
The Law of Least Effort is present in nature – water always finds the most efficient way down the mountain as does light through the clouds. We’re wired the same way – to conserve energy – which is why we have the gift of memory.
“Our memories have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to keep track of things that didn’t move such as fruit trees, wells, mountains, and lakes. What it’s not so good at is keeping track of things that move from place to place.” Writes Levitin.
You always know where your car is when you’re at home because you likely park it in the same spot. But it’s easy to lose it in a parking lot in an underground complex or at the airport. Smaller things like reading glasses or your phone that you move constantly can be an ongoing source of frustration if you’re void of a system.
Be kind to your overloaded mind and set up a routine or triggers – like taping a list of things to remember inside your front door – and save your precious time and awareness for the brilliance of life that surrounds you.
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