Disk Clean-Up For Your Brain

One way to ensure optimum performance of your computer is to perform a regular disk clean-up. When was the last time you did the same favour for your very own hard disk, your brain?

What started me thinking about this was a joke about a computer being female because ‘even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval’. When I was done laughing I suddenly realised that the joke described exactly how I used to argue in the past. I would bring up old wrongs to buttress my case, and that often caused the relationship to hang.

So I decided to go through my overloaded brain and clear out any old files and programmes that are holding me back from living freely and joyfully. I invite you to do the same.

1. Delete old memory files

Obviously there are some memories that you want to keep forever: cherished moments with your family, happy pictures of your childhood, emotional scenes of bonding with friends, eureka moments that gave you valuable insights.

All these make you who you are today and should be kept safely. I’d even recommend backing these files up in a journal. Commit such important memories to paper because someday you will read through your journals and realise how far you have come.

The files you should delete are the ones that consistently turn up when you are in argument mode and perform a search function to find ammunition for the battle. You will recognise these files by their file extensions which contain something like ‘Poor Little Old Me’. Let’s call these the .PLOM files.

Information stored in these files typically include times when your birthday or anniversary was forgotten, when you were kept waiting a long time, when you had to put up with a cancelled appointment, and when your favours were not noticed or appreciated.

.PLOM files can also be identified by their appearance when you’re carrying out functions like Blame, Self-Pity, Procrastination, and Excuses. You will recognise .PLOM files by their repetitive nature, and their ability to call up other .PLOM files.

Delete all .PLOM files without a second thought. They serve no useful function but take up space and prevent you from storing other types of memory files that are more useful, like .JOY and .LOVE.

2. Un-install malicious programmes

Some programmes when downloaded onto your system can interfere with the proper functioning of other programmes. These are like virus files that you want to avoid like the plague. They infect your attitude with negativity, deplete your stores of goodwill, and reduce your capacity to live fully.

a. Fault_Finding.exe

This is a very common programme that evaluates every other human in close proximity in order to point out flaws in their programming code. It then churns out a report of these faults and transfers the report to the other human so that he can start work on fixing himself. While this programme was originally written with good intentions, it has proliferated out of control and is over-used. When applied too many times to the other person, it drains his power and can eventually lead to shut down.

b. Keeping_Score_Of_Favours_Done.xls

At first glance this appears to be a very useful spreadsheet that helps you to adjust your actions to the latest developments around you. Essentially it updates the number of nice things you have done for someone else with the number of times that person has done nice things for you. Both numbers have to be within an acceptable range pre-determined by you. If not, it sends out warning signals that activate your behavioural programmes. If the imbalance is not corrected, these continued signals will upgrade your behaviour from resentment to seething to silent treatment.

c. Expectations.app

This is a stealthy programme that operates under the surface. It generates a long list of actions you would like another person to perform for you, and then hides this list from view. A value is assigned to each action depending on how spontaneous the other person’s decoding function is. An action scores high points if it is performed with no prompting on your part. If a few hints are necessary, the score is lower, and is practically zero if you have to ask for it explicitly. If the list is revealed to the other person but still not acted on, this programme can cause you to implode.

Hunt down and un-install all these malicious programmes ruthlessly. You will know such programmes by checking their code: all of them are defined in terms of actions of other people and not your own. Since you have no control over the actions of other people, these programmes leave you unfulfilled and make others miserable.

3. Disable unnecessary applications

Unlike malicious viruses, these programmes aren’t harmful in themselves but take up unnecessary resources. They run in the background without you noticing, slowing down other applications and preventing you from performing as well as you’d like to.

a. Worry.waste

Worry is a time-consuming function which causes you to go through every possible outcome a dozen times. Multiplied by the number of possible outcomes, the sheer memory size required by this file slows down all other applications. Most of these possible outcomes will never happen.

b. Suspicion.lack

Suspicion causes you to screen every word and deed you encounter, refusing to process them until they have been proven without a doubt to be trustworthy. While some people are willing to stick around long enough to pass the screening procedure, most will simply leave to find other people who are more accepting and trusting of them.

c. Procrastination.slow

Procrastination takes every task at the front of the queue and moves it to the back. Sometimes it simply holds up the entire queue while it goes to check out the games applications. When a task has made it to the front of the queue enough times, it may finally get done though by this time the queue is so long that processing speed slows down considerably.

If you have not cleaned up your hard disk in a while, the first attempt can take a long time. Just be patient. The good news is that subsequent clean-ups are much faster and easier. Changing our thinking habits is the same. It can be very hard the first time but becomes easier.

Try cleaning up your brain’s disk, and tell me how it’s working for you. What other ‘programmes’ and ‘files’ can you think of that we can clean up?

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Posted by Daphne | September 26, 2008 | in Think Deeply


2 Responses to “Disk Clean-Up For Your Brain”

  1. Victoria
    November 17th, 2009 @ 8:50 am

    Fantastic!!!
    This one Rocks!!
    Thanks!

  2. Daphne
    November 17th, 2009 @ 9:23 pm

    Victoria,

    Thanks so much for your comment, and for reaching out and being encouraging even though you’re going through a tough time yourself. YOU rock!!!

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