I was working at the university and it was exam time. As is the custom the atmosphere changes. People scurry to exam venues blurry eyed as they show the remnants of a late night cramming session. Stress and anxiety written all over their faces.

As I walked down to get a coffee I saw a colleague who was doing some postgraduate study and en route to sit an exam. He looked at me, smiled and said “DON’T  talk to me; I am off to sit an exam and I don’t want to LEAK any information”. After an all-nighter, he felt like his brain had reached capacity. Like someone carrying an overfull cup across a room, he did not want to spill any of the precious information.

I am sure we have all had that feeling of “being at capacity”. There is no more room for work, distraction or information.

Capacity is not an infinite resource. We all have our limits but what you don’t know is that you can FREE UP some capacity. More on this later.

Question: How many times have you been asked or asked someone else

• “Can you remind me about  _________________ ?” or
• “Please don’t let me forget _________________ ?”

The reason people say this is because a ‘task to be done’ is weighing on their minds. They are fearful they will forget and it is causing them psychic anxiety. This fear indicates they do not have a system that they trust to ensure the task will get completed. With this in mind their solution is, make someone else responsible for remembering the task.

To make matters worse, a collection of little tasks all start to weigh heavily on the individual. These ‘to do’s’ take up cognitive (brain space) capacity that could be used for more productive activities.  Instead, consciously they are trying to ensure all tasks are remembered.

The end result is a form of Psychic Anxiety. A constant worrying about possible missed tasks.

• Jobs that you don’t want to forget.
• Bills to be payed,
• People to be contacted or
• Subscriptions to cancel.
• Items you must remember to buy at the shops

It’s all true

You may have heard yourself saying “I have a lot on my mind”, chances are you quite literally do. Unconsciously, we may be mentally juggling tasks. Shuffling cognitive resources in a vain attempt to give our full attention to a project at hand.

According to research, our ability to think creatively gets lost when our minds are trying to keep track of the ‘to do’s’. The end result being that you feel preoccupied and you lack focus and attention.
The notion that these mental “to do’s” are using up precious brain power is being validated by the scientific community. Professor John-Dylan Haynes from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, has through functional magnetic resonance imaging been able to map what part of the brain is unconsciously active while we hold these ‘to do’s in your head. Unconsciously using up mental capacity that could be put to better use.

The Solution is Cognitive Off-Loading

Science is revealing that when people ‘Cognitively Offload’ they feel relieved of trying to track tasks. The area of the brain unconsciously tracking these tasks deactivates and frees up mental capacity. They then become more present, creative and productive in their current context.

Two ways to Cognitive Off-Load (CC’s)

1.       COMPLETE THE TASK.

Professor Evan Risko, of the University of Waterloo, and Dr Sam Gilbert, from the University College London, discovered that these ‘little to do’s absorb capacity UNTIL we put them into action. Once they are enacted upon, those portions of the brain no longer display as active and are free to engage in other more creative / productive activities. That is fine if you only have ONE task to do, I hear you mumble.

2.       CAPTURE the TASKS

The therapeutic community has been aware of the power of writing information down for years. Psychologists Richard Slatcher and James Pennebaker from the University of Texas at Austin research found that getting people who have experienced a traumatic event to write about their thoughts and feelings helped prevent the onset of depression and enhanced their immune system. This same notion can be applied to personal productivity.

Dr Gilbert said remembering ‘to do lists’ is not “the most effective use of… cognitive resources”.  He added: “If you can be reminded of that task it frees up more space, which can be used for any number of things.”

This is the reason why people feel the insatiable need to ask someone else to remind them about a task to be done. By doing this they make someone else responsible for remembering the task and hence relives the unconscious anxiety they are experiencing.

However, the trick to this is

a) Have a CAPTURING SYSTEM YOU CAN TRUST. There is a myriad of tools and programs that may work for you. It may be as simple as a post-it note or some of the myriad of technologicalresources availablefor download via the apps store. (Wunderlist, Remember The Milk etc)

b)  WRITE IT DOWN. In a nutshell get your thoughts out of your head by writing them down. In essence you are trusting that that little piece of paper or system you have chosen, will be your reminder.

Quite simply the practice of writing it down offloads the responsibility of the brain to try and remember a task. This frees up mental capacity and reduces unconscious anxiety.

Your brain can now attend to other more important tasks once an external reminder has been created. Now you can relax and focus on the present. As simple as it sounds science has shown that people become

• More Present

• More Productive

• More Relaxed and

• More Creative

By Aiden Holliday

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Have a Laugh

A man flying in a hot air balloon suddenly realizes he’s lost.

He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts to get directions, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below says: “Yes. You’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.”

“You must work in Information Technology,” says the balloonist.

“I do” replies the man. “How did you know?”

“Well,” says the balloonist, “everything you have told me is technically correct, but It’s of no use to anyone.”

The man below replies, “You must work in management.”

“I do,” replies the balloonist, “But how’d you know?”

“Well”, says the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”