In your bed at night...

3 a.m. and 5 p.m., the alarm sounds... at night! You woke up in the middle of one of your dream nights after tossing for a while, stress rears its head because you're thinking

• that forgotten task of your project, or even worse: from your boss's project
• to that important promise to a colleague you've forgotten
• you get a raid for an important problem from a customer that you've been struggling with for several days, etc...

You start to grind and just can't get back to sleep!

On the bus, on the train,...

Or you get these memory problems while on the road in your car, on the bike, on the toilet, or anywhere else you are in a relaxed state.

Gifts from your subconscious mind?

Sparks and fire!

All loose ends that literally crackle and flicker in your head. Like a Christmas tree when there are a lot of them!

The cause of what excites you and makes you feel uncomfortable, that distracts you and that mainly takes up brain capacity: firing impulses between neurotic neuronal connections at that time.

How to prevent it? Certainly not happening at first!
After all, they are actually gifts, they watch over your gut feeling, so do something

Step 1: Write down!

A good reflex: write down!

How? That doesn't matter at first... post-its, on paper, on your hand, in your mobile... at least write them down, out of your head

Personally, I'm not allowed to turn on the lights at night - boss over boss - but you'll be surprised how you can develop the talent to write in the dark. However, it is important that you help develop that other skill: reading in the light. That was before, nowadays you can of course use an app for this, see the blog you don't want to forget, straight to your inbox: easy and fast apps!

That's step 1. And to prevent all those loose ends from lying around everywhere - because what is visible requires attention - step 2 is important:

Step 2: Centralize!

In order to get and keep an overview, it is of course important that all these loose ends end up in a system. At least group all your fantasies every day, centralize them somewhere in one fixed place! From the healthy principle, head empty, system full: out of your head, into your system! Keep your head free for much more important things.

As one participant reports: since the workshop, I've immediately written down what's important - usually in my notes on my iPhone - and I've collected in one place - Outlook to-do list - what used to be everywhere, and especially what I tried to remember. I must say, I did not expect such logical and simple trucks to have that strong effect.

If you use an app, you naturally centralize immediately as you write down. And are you sitting in front of your computer while you're getting a brainwave? Then use electronic post-its, long live post-its, directly in your inbox!

I myself used to install a notepad for post-its right next to my car steering wheel; With a drill, first holes in the dashboard, you had to hear my wife Carine every time we bought a new car! Apart from the fact that I didn't even have to be surprised if I wrote something on it, it unfortunately turned out to be illegal to tell a police commissioner in a workshop. Today, I'm just talking to my app and it's much easier... and even in a regulatory way

And... action!

So from now on, no more loose ends, no unnecessary brain activity:

• get in the habit of writing down and centralizing, it will feel liberating for your
brain.
• how are you going to apply the write up & centralize technique?
• what is your first step for that?

You as a manager?

if, from now on, everyone in your team remembers everything that is said/asked and deals proactively with it? What would that be like?

• which team members forget something sometimes?
• what do you recommend to them and how do you follow this up?
• how do you make sure you remember - what you're asked -?
  or do you think I'll remember? Test yourself for holes in your memory: write down!
• how do you create an overview of all tasks to be performed within your team?