July 21, 2006

Bad Boys: You’re Losing Your Memory

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 2:51 pm

What Was I Going to Say?

badboys of business logo

I’m ready to write something and as I sit at the keys, it’s gone. It was a spectacular idea. I know it was. Damn. It’s the second time this week, or is it the third? Suddenly I’m forgetting things — things that I’ve never forgotten before.

I used to be known for this memory of mine. Some folks even steered clear of it, feared it. They knew it could track details for decades and offer them back at lightning speed. Now what? A brain of mush has moved in where the razor sharp memory was. . . .

-Stop-

That’s the voice of a Bad Boy of Business. Bad Boys are negative messages, bad tape recordings, in our heads. Bad boys are ideas that we tell ourselves that undercut our success and productivity.

The bad boy here is “You’re losing you’re memory.”

What’s happening?

You’re Losing Your Memory

We all have points of reference by which we define ourselves. Most intelligent folks include a good memory in their list of definitions. When we start to forget things, it’s not pretty. We start hearing that bad boy talking us into believing that we’re losing our edge and that life will be downhill from there.

“You’re losing your memory,” he says. “You’re losing it.”

That’s not’s not what happening at all. It’s only how it feels.

What’s really happening: Chances are that we’ve been taking in a great deal of information — more than usual, more than we’re able to process fully. If we’re multi-tasking or skimming text, then perhaps, we’ve never captured the information at all.

The problem comes when we believe we can push beyond our capacity without allowing ourselves a chance to process the information that we’ve already “learned.”

The solution: Tell that bad boy to hit the road.

I need to give my brain a rest and take some time to breathe. My memory needs time to process. It’s broken. It’s on strike. If I treat it right it will come back to me.

Take a moment. Concentrate on learning one thing at a time. Take the time to process the information. You find your memory is still functioning.

I’m taking a minute to think about that — before I forget to.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles:
Bad Boys of Writing: Just Write and It Will Be Spectacular
Bad Boys of Business: That’s Not “Real” Work


Filed under Business Life, Motivation/Inspiration, Outside the Box, Successful Blog |



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17 Comments to “Bad Boys: You’re Losing Your Memory”

  1. July 21st, 2006 at 5:12 pm
    John said

    If I listened to that bad boy I’d be a bag of neuroses. o_O

  2. July 21st, 2006 at 6:21 pm
    Joe said

    Hey Liz,
    It’s not the memory (or is it?) it’s the Time Warp.

    I noticed your SOB Cafe of 7/20 posted after your Net Neturality of 7/21 and before your post about memory (also 7/21).

    I always knew Successful Blog was in the Twilight Zone. ;-)

    Joe

  3. July 21st, 2006 at 6:33 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi John,
    I have plenty of neuroses, but I still have my memory. :)

  4. July 21st, 2006 at 6:37 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Thanks, Joe!
    I fixed the time warp bug. Good thing I made professor of counting and time warps. You keep on that. I have a baaaaad memory for how to spell dates.

  5. July 21st, 2006 at 6:41 pm
    Joe said

    I knew I was good for something…

    And to think Math was my worst subject.
    And I was always late for school… :-0

  6. July 21st, 2006 at 6:51 pm
    Joe said

    BTW, before I forget…

    I invited someone to write a guest article for my blog to tell how his service could benefit people that work at home (blogging).

    See if you can guess who it is…

    I doubt if he will consent to doing it, but you know me, I had to ask.

  7. July 21st, 2006 at 6:55 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hey, Joe,
    Of course, you’re good you keep me sane.

    Then you drive me crazy asking questions. :)

  8. July 21st, 2006 at 6:57 pm
    Joe said

    The only hint I’ll give is:
    You and I (and a few other people) have dealt with him through one of your articles.

  9. July 21st, 2006 at 7:44 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Joe
    It’s late on a Friday. I’d have to guess it would be David Sifry,

  10. July 21st, 2006 at 7:57 pm
    ah Pek said

    upgrade your Ram maybe?

  11. July 21st, 2006 at 7:59 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Ah Pek,
    My Ram is getting old, you’re right about that! :)

  12. July 21st, 2006 at 8:59 pm
    Joe said

    Hey Liz,
    I didn’t think you would get it on the first try… ;-)

    You will be the first to know what his reply is (if he replies)

  13. July 21st, 2006 at 9:12 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Joe,
    I’ve got spies everywhere. :)
    I’ll be out at their offices next week. Good luck! I hop your reply is positive.

  14. July 21st, 2006 at 9:18 pm
    Joe said

    Thanks…
    ‘Nite ‘Nite

  15. July 21st, 2006 at 9:19 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Sweet dreams, Joe.
    Sleepy swell.

  16. July 23rd, 2006 at 12:52 pm
    Cartel said

    Upgrade ram.

  17. July 23rd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Cartel,
    If only I could upgrade the RAM in my head. That would solve so many problems. Maybe I should just adjust my vitual memory settings.

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