What Was I Going to Say?
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: Thatââ¬â¢s Not ââ¬ÅRealââ¬Â Work
If I listened to that bad boy I’d be a bag of neuroses. o_O
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
Hi John,
I have plenty of neuroses, but I still have my memory. 🙂
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.
I knew I was good for something…
And to think Math was my worst subject.
And I was always late for school… :-0
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.
Hey, Joe,
Of course, you’re good you keep me sane.
Then you drive me crazy asking questions. 🙂
The only hint I’ll give is:
You and I (and a few other people) have dealt with him through one of your articles.
Joe
It’s late on a Friday. I’d have to guess it would be David Sifry,
upgrade your Ram maybe?
Hi Ah Pek,
My Ram is getting old, you’re right about that! 🙂
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)
Hi Joe,
I’ve got spies everywhere. 🙂
I’ll be out at their offices next week. Good luck! I hop your reply is positive.
Thanks…
‘Nite ‘Nite
Sweet dreams, Joe.
Sleepy swell.
Upgrade ram.
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.