I’m a big believer that the more you can free up your brain, the better. It improves your thinking, mood, awareness of things around you, and more.

If you follow any of my work, you also know I’m a big fan of outsourcing. But outsourcing is not limited to work you do, you can also outsource your thinking.

Here’s a cool example:

The other day I had a bit of a health scare and ended up in the ER. I waited four days with pretty bad chest pains to go to the doctor. I finally went when it got to the worst it had been out of fear I was having a heart attack or something! Fortunately, it all worked out, and the doctors gave me some medications for gastritis/heartburn.

These medicines have some pretty strict rules though, and I have to take them for the next 30 days!

Medicine A needs to be taken twice a day.

Medicine B needs to be taken four times per day, at least 1 hour before or after Medicine A, and either on an empty stomach or 2-3 hours after eating.

This may not sound like a huge deal, but I just couldn’t imagine trying to think about the timing of those medications with everything else I have going on in my life. So, I chose to outsource.

First, I outsourced to ChatGPT. I told it the medications and the dosing requirements and asked it to figure out an optimal schedule for me. It did, with shining colors.

Second, I outsourced to the Health App on my iPhone, which has a medications section that will remind you when it’s time to take a medication.

Rather than the mental load of thinking about when I have to take these medicines, I outsourced the thinking process AND the reminder process, so that all I have to do is walk to the kitchen and take my meds when it’s time.

Now — I get this is a fairly simple example, but don’t miss the larger point: This is how I think about EVERYTHING.

My first inclination is, “How can I automate or delegate this activity?” You’ll find there’s an amazing amount of leverage out there waiting for you to take advantage of it if you’re looking out for it.