Which of these exemplifies the use of an "external brain"?

O

A. Using your eyes to see the sun

O

B. Setting an alarm clock to wake you up

O

C. Opening your eyes when you wake

O

D. Knowing the sun rises each day

B

What is an external brain? It is simply a device or process that allows you to take things out of your brain and put them somewhere else so they don't nibble at you all day.

Your brain is great at lots of things. It's great at coming up with ideas. It's great a solving problems. What it's not so good at is storing things. More appropriately, you shouldn't try to store everything in your brain. When you try to store everything in your brain it becomes like a hoarder house. You can't find stuff and you can't have great ideas because of all the clutter.

Have you ever tried to remember a long number? Like a pass code? You can do it up to 5 or 6 digits but unless you have a methodology your brain starts to struggle after 6 digits. Have you ever tried to schedule a meeting on a busy day with 4 busy people? What are the odds of finding an open slot that works for everyone?

This is the type of problem that you are launching into your brain without knowing it when you don't leverage the external