My brain has too many tabs open

I don’t know how many times I’ve walked past colleagues at different companies and seen their screens: twenty, thirty, sometimes forty browser tabs open. They’re frantically clicking through them trying to find the slides for the next meeting, the news article they wanted to read, the document they were working on this morning.

Then I see the meme: “My brain has too many tabs open.” And I realize we’re all doing the same thing with our thoughts.

We keep mental tabs open for everything: the idea we had in the shower, the thing we need to discuss with our manager, the grocery list, the project we should start next week.

This is exactly what David Allen was talking about in Getting Things Done. He called them “open loops” and your brain refuses to let go of them because it doesn’t trust that you’ll remember them otherwise.

Your colleague with forty browser tabs has the same problem you do with your racing thoughts. No trusted system for what matters and what doesn’t.

The solution isn’t better memory or more mental discipline. It’s building a system you trust enough that your brain will finally stop hoarding those tabs.

Close the loops.