I often have a lot of random thoughts floating around in my head, like things to do, unsolved work problems, what to pick up at the grocery store, and so on. I have a fear of forgetting things. Trying to keep track of everything, especially unfinished thoughts, takes up a lot of mental bandwidth.

Shortly after college, I noticed that writing things down really helps to clear things out. It’s not that I got anything done or solved a problem, but the fact that it was down somewhere other than my head freed up my mind.

This reminds me of the Zeigarnik effect, which is the idea that unfinished tasks stay on your mind.

I get a lot of clarity writing things down even if I don’t need to read it again. It’s like the thoughts are moved, not copied, from my head onto a page.