Having a great memory isn’t essential to productivity. In fact, you may want to rely on it less and use your mind for what it is best at…
A little over 4 years ago, I discovered a big secret to memory. It was a “memory hack” so to speak, that really changed the way I approach the things I need to remember.
But before I get to that, let me share an interesting bit of research.
Recently there was research that found that the reason older people seem slow to remember facts isn’t because they have poor memories. In fact, their memories perform similarly to their younger counterparts.
The difference is that there is simply more information to search through. The idea is that we are somewhat analogous to computers. If we try to search the hard drive of a new computer with very little on it, we will find the result we are looking for quickly.
If we look through the hard drive of a computer filled with decades of information, it will take a whole bunch of whirring and beeping (and time) to find what we are seeking.
Since we humans can’t exactly upgrade our processors and hard drives every few years, we have to be more creative about how we use our minds.
And this is where computers come back into the picture. Computers, it turns out, are very good at remembering information. If you ask your computer what was the first email you sent in February of 2013, the answer will be forthcoming.
If I ask you what was the first email you sent last week, you will likely have no idea.
On the other hand, computers are not that good at processing information. Sure, they can handle some very complicated, well-defined mathematical tasks very quickly, but the self-driving car is still a cutting edge, unproven technology.
You, on the other hand, can drive a car, listen to the radio, drink a coffee and interact with your kids all at the same time. You have far more processing power.
The point of this observation is the following conclusion:
You should use your brain to process information and your computer to remember.
What does this look like in practice? Well, here are a few examples:
- Taking a picture of your parking spot with your smartphone so you can forget about where you parked your car while you are on the airport.
- Using reminders on your smartphone that trigger when you get near the grocery store to remind you to stop. (iPhone Reminders is an app that allows you to trigger reminders based on time or location.)
- Using tools like X1 Search (for PCs) to quickly scroll through email for the exact information you are looking for in an attachment.
- Using Evernote to remember information associated with a person or website
- Using email rules to remind you of who owes you a deliverable (e.g. if you asked someone to do something in an email).
- Using Basecamp to keep track of the deliverables of each person on your team
The idea here is to use systems and raw computing power so that you don’t have to remember much at all, yet everything gets remembered.
So what does that free you up to do?
Well, mostly be creative and focus your mental energy on processing and synthesis, which is where your brain works most effectively. It’s also where you can likely generate the most value long term.
Now, you may be thinking that if you don’t use your memory, you may lose it, and this is true.
I moved to San Diego 9 years ago, and since it was a new city to me and I had GPS on my smartphone, I just used my phone to get from place to place.
I’m pretty convinced that my sense of what roads lead to where is far less than what it might be if I had never used a GPS. Basically, I know the routes I travel every day plus a few more and that is it.
However, there is also evidence that the opposite is true, in that we can grow and develop parts of our brains. This was demonstrated with a study done in London of taxi drivers (who must memorize the elaborate roads of London) before and after they begin driving their routes.
The research finds that the parts of the brain focused on spatial recognition grow significantly after they begin learning this information and using it on a daily basis. -One of the best indicators of neuroplasticity and our brain’s ability to grow.
So, when thinking about your cognitive abilities, use it or lose it, and focus on aspects of it to develop them… But regardless, use as many tools as you can to supplement your natural mental abilities.
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