# Quote — David Allen, Getting Things Done

> The short-term-memory part of your mind—the part that tends to hold all of the incomplete, undecided, and unorganized “stuff”—functions much like RAM on a personal computer. Your conscious mind, like the computer screen, is a focusing tool, not a storage place. You can think about only two or three things at once. But the incomplete items are still being stored in the short-term-memory space. And as with RAM, there’s limited capacity; there’s only so much “stuff” you can store in there and still have that part of your brain function at a high level. Most people walk around with their RAM bursting at the seams. They’re constantly distracted, their focus disturbed by their own internal mental overload.

- Author: [David Allen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen.md)
- Book: [Getting Things Done](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen/getting-things-done.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Allen#Getting_Things_Done:_The_Art_of_Stress-Free_Productivity_(2001)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen/getting-things-done/the-short-term-memory-part

## More from this book

> [Y]ou must have a clear picture in your mind of what success would look, sound, and feel like.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen/getting-things-done/y-ou-must-have.md)

> It's great to clear your psychic decks so you can go into the weekend ready for refreshment and recreation, with nothing on your mind.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen/getting-things-done/its-great-to-clear.md)

> The organizing system merely provides placeholders for all your oprn loops and options so your mind can... make the necessary intuitive, moment-to-moment strategic decisions.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-allen/getting-things-done/the-organizing-system.md)