Chapter 1: The Bowling Ball in the Freezer

Installment from "The Bowling Ball in the Freezer and Other Secrets of a Highly Efficient You." Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.

My client Bob is a busy, important man and hates forgetting things he’s supposed to do. And yet he can’t bring himself to use a “PDA” or a “Day Planner” or any other traditional calendar or reminder system. “Fuck that!” he says, making another martini. Bob is what I’d call a “situational” or “action-based” thinker. He needs a process for keeping his life on track that is a part of his life, not some kind of alien fungus that grows on the outside of his life.

Here’s what I did for Bob. One day while I was shadowing him, collecting data by observing Bob being Bob, I had an opportunity to watch him interact with his complex world. He was in a hell of a hurry – he had gotten up late and had only then realized he was a few hours away from a flight and a four day business trip. He did what any rational actor would do in an irrational world: he opened up his suitcase, put it in the middle of the bed, and started to throw shit into it, cursing like a sailor all the while. Bob didn’t do too well on that trip, with eight pairs of socks and no underwear, but it got me thinking.

The dirty suitcase in the middle of the unmade bed stood like a monument: it couldn’t be ignored. It shouted out “I’m here, pack me now! Don’t even think of getting back into bed.” If only he could have put that suitcase on the bed the night before – he would have stumbled into the dark bedroom after the last martini, pitched himself into bed, and been reminded instantly of that trip the next morning.

So here’s the system I crafted for you and Bob: whenever, and wherever you are when something important occurs to you that you need to remember later, don’t write it down on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket; use the world around you as your “tickler.”

Need to return your neighbor’s bowling ball after dinner? Stick it in the freezer next to the ice cream.

You too can be an action-based thinker now: you’re limited only by your creativity and how much of the world around you can be broken off and duct-taped back on later. Want to remember to take out the trash before you go to work? Leave the toilet unflushed. Must call mother before it gets too late? Used Kleenex on the kitchen counter. Turds equal trash; mucus equals mom. Your house might end up looking like Salvador Dali moved in, but you’ll finally remember to hide the good booze before your alcoholic boss shows up.