This Open Letter to my Brain

Dear Brain,

I know you're busy managing all my vital bodily functions and keeping me alive. You have a pretty full schedule, and I understand this. However, you have another duty as well, and lately you've been dropping the ball. I'm trying to remember something important, and when I ask you about it, I get nothing.

Look, I don't need to recall a long list of obscure Simpsons quotes from the 90's. I don't need to know the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. I don't need to know the order of the planets, the colors of the rainbow, or the recipe for banana bread. Don't get me wrong, that's good information to have when I need it, but I don't need it right now.

Busy Work Programming

When I have some tedious task that I can't put off any longer, I can't do it in silence. I'm normally not the type of person who has to have the television or radio on all the time. I like the silence as it helps me mentally focus. But when it's a task that I can pretty much do on autopilot, then my brain is going to want something to occupy it while the rest of me works from muscle memory. That's where my busy work programming comes in handy.

My current programming of choice is The Big Bang Theory. I've watched every episode and have the first four seasons on DVD. When I've got something annoying but necessary to do, I'll just pop in a disk, hit the play all, and get to work. Since I've already seen the episode, I'm not compelled to watch or really pay attention. It's like going on a long car trip with my brain in the back seat with a DVD of Finding Nemo. I get the job done without my brain interrupting every five minutes to ask me "Are you done yet?"