Imagine if You Had Extra Storage for Your Brain

What if we could install a USB port in our brain and then stick a thumb drive in there and download a bunch of stuff onto it?

Like when you’re still awake at 2:00 a.m. and your mind is going in a thousand different directions. You could clear it out by downloading onto your drive and then you could go to sleep.

Or when you need to put something in a “safe place” or have something important to remember.

You could just store it on your USB drive and you’d know exactly where it was.

And your brain would be freed up for other things.

We Kind of Do Have Options

I mean, we can’t install anything in our head that would access our brain.

That might be kind of dangerous, and let’s face it, our brains are challenged enough.

I don’t mean that in a bad way. Our brains are challenged because we have so many ideas going on, all at once. We would probably all be geniuses if we could just rein that stuff in and get it organized.

But we have electronic options.

I use Evernote (free) for keeping track of bills I’ve paid and other kinds of online receipts.

I use Trello  (also free) for managing things related to my blog. I keep all my post ideas there and keep track of their progress.

I even created a special board for my new online course called Chaos to Clean, which basically puts your cleaning routine into a free app that you can use on any device.

I also created a new free product called 21 Hacks to Save Time on Your Phone that you can get just for signing up for my newsletter. (See the bottom of this post.)

Low Tech Options

I understand that not everyone is glued to their phone.

I made it my goal this year to try and use my phone for everything because it’s so portable. My paper planner is big and bulky, and while I love it, I can’t carry it with me.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use a paper planner as your USB drive.

Or even a small notebook.

Back in the day, I used to use a spiral notebook as my planner and just wrote down what I needed to do or remember that day. If I made an important phone call or paid a bill, I noted that stuff there. You can read more about that here.

Closing Down the Night Time Idea Factory

We all know that our brain becomes most active at night after we’ve gone to bed.

After all, there are no distractions to occupy it.

It’s dark and quiet.

I used to talk to my husband then, until he pointed out that he went to bed in order to sleep, not talk. 🙁

So here’s what I recommend trying in order to close down the night time idea factory: get ahead of it.

Early in the evening, at least an hour before you go to bed, get your phone out and turn on your voice memos.

Tell it everything you’ve got in your head. Empty it all out. Kind of like that kid in Goonies. 🙂

Hopefully this will work for you.

Whatever you do, DO NOT listen to the people who tell you to keep a notepad on your nightstand or your phone, and then just add your ideas as you think of them.

Unless of course, you don’t mind not sleeping.

In the meantime, I’m going to be working on that USB in my head idea.

I might need a new hairstyle to cover the hole….