The story goes that Albert Einstein didn’t remember his phone number. When asked why, he replied, “Never memorize what you can look up in a book.” Einstein was also known for his absent-mindedness, and many believe this meant his mind was free from unnecessary clutter, allowing him to focus on more important matters.
Fast forward over 75 years, and we now have tools to “unclutter” our brains. This concept is often called creating a “second brain,” and platforms like Notion, Evernote, or Obsidian allow us to offload information and organize it for later use.
I was on a call with a friend recently who gave me some fantastic advice, which I promptly forgot. When I asked her to remind me what she had said, we joked that we should have used Otter.ai to transcribe the call and send us notes afterward.
I’m not entirely sure if all this great technology will help us declutter our minds to focus on what truly matters or if it will make us lazy and lead to our brains atrophying. Until then, I guess I’ll just let my “second brain” remember for me—assuming I remember to use it. 🤔
