I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a serious case of "brain drain." Brain drain is a temporary condition of forgetfulness caused by trying to process and maintain too much information.
The world cotinues to move at a faster and faster pace. We are expected to comprehend, process and produce more in less time.
For example, when I was growing up, our family had one phone number. Now, we have a phone number, fax number, and multiple cell phone numbers. We used to have to memorize our driver's license and social security numbers. Now, added to those two bits of priceless information, we have multiple user IDs and passwords for work and home. We use to have a credit card and checking/savings/investments accounts. Now, we have credit cards, debit cards, PINs, on-line banking, and brokerage accounts with all sorts of "investment vehicles" that involve traunches and derivatives. It just goes on and on.
Most of the time, I do a pretty good job of keeping up with all of my "important" information, but everyone once in a while my brain temporarily checks out. For example, I recently went to use my debit card and went absolutely, totally completely blank when it came time to punch in my PIN number -- the same PIN number I've used almost daily for the last two years. Absolutely nothing came to mind. Zero, zip, nada. After staring at the keypad for at least a minute, I had to admit to the less than amused checkout girl that I couldn't remember my PIN, which meant she had to redo the transaction because I was going to have to pay for items the old fashioned way -- cash.
At first I was afraid something was really wrong with my brain, but I could remember all of my other IDs, PINs, Passwords and numbers. Somehow, this one had just slipped off the old "hard drive." Fortunately, a few days later the number suddenly popped back into my head out of no where. I immediately wrote it down on my newly created master list of important, not-easily-retrievable information.
As I contemplated the problem, it suddenly occurred to me that I was not losing it -- my brain was merely "buffering." Its like when you are downloading a large file on your computer and your computer pauses for a few minutes while the file is being transferred. The hardware and software have to catch up to the new data being processed.
Ever since my buffering experience, I've made a point to take a few minutes every day to let my brain buffer. I take a mental break from the continuous bombardment of information, deadlines and never-ending list of tasks tht I must perform. Sometimes, I sit and think about something pleasant and sometimes I just sit. Either way I'm convinced a little buffering along the way will prevent the "old hard drive" from eventually having a total memory dump and crashing. -- Keep shining!
