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Outsource Attention

Memory often fails while technology often succeeds.


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Getting Things Done (By Noticing)

David Allen's Getting Things Done's central thesis is that any and all tasks should be recorded somewhere instead of memorized. This eliminates the risk of forgetting small tasks and having to worry about remembering everything that needs to get done, so energy can be used on actually doing things instead of remembering them.

In the same way attention (in the form of remembering to do something) is outsourced to lists, attention in the form of noticing and reminding to do said thing should also be outsourced. This saves energy by not having to keep track of when to do something. Instead, just listen for the signal and do it then.

While this idea is pretty simple, it's often overlooked. People are constantly having to be reminded to do things or forcing themselves to remember what and when to do it, taking valuable attention away from the task at hand.


Examples

Fitness

Garmin bicycle computers can be configured with custom activity profiles that set lower and upper limits on a variety of parameters: heart rate, power, cadence, etc. Recovery rides that are supposed to be easy can have a maximum heart rate limit to prevent the overzealous rider from going too hard. This means no more having to constantly look down at the computer to check heart rate; just listen for the beep and reduce the effort a bit. Profiles can also provide reminders to eat and drink based on time or calories; just fuel at the beep and focus on riding.

Smart watches give "go get some steps in" reminders.

Productivity

Software exists that both monitors and limits screen time at user-defined granularities, whether it's the screen as a whole or a specific website. Simply wait until the limit is reached instead of monitoring how much time is spent on X. Setting limits also forces the cut off time instead of giving more leash.

Notifications

Set up recurring alarms for recurring tasks.

Set up push notifications for calendar appointments.

Set up follow-up email reminders for important emails as soon as you send them.

Autopay

Set up autopay for bills.


See Also