Part 2: Why “Externalize It” Turns a Clearing into a Living Map
Why Just Seeing Your Thoughts Changes Everything
You’ve named what lives in your mental forest. Now you’re ready to step deeper: turning your clearing into a map you can hold in your hands.
It might feel too simple: sticky notes, index cards, a blank wall or table. But this shift — putting your thoughts out there instead of in here — is exactly what your brain and body crave.
Two Channels Are Better Than One
Psychologists like Allan Paivio (1971) found that your brain processes information through two channels: verbal (language) and visual/spatial (images and arrangements).
When everything stays in your head, you mostly use the verbal channel. That’s like trying to navigate a dark forest with one eye shut. When you write down your named thoughts and spread them out, you bring the visual/spatial channel online. You literally see your problem — which creates multiple pathways for insight.
Your Desk Becomes a Thinking Partner
These sticky notes aren’t just reminders — they’re extensions of your mind. Research calls this distributed cognition or the extended mind — the idea that the environment can carry part of your mental load. This is why great designers and strategists lay out index cards or sketches — it’s not pretty procrastination. It’s how deep work happens.
When your ideas live on paper:
You free up mental RAM.
You can hold more complexity without feeling overloaded.
You start to see connections, duplicates, and missing pieces.
You create distance — stepping back lets you see the forest and the trees.
The Embodied Advantage
Modern research in embodied cognition shows that when you physically handle objects — moving notes around, stacking, sorting — you activate more of your brain. The enactment effect shows you remember better when your body participates.
Spiritually, this is ancient knowing: humans have always arranged stones, sticks, bones, or shells to see what they couldn’t see before. We’ve always built temporary shrines to hold our questions.
Creating a Mini Altar
Treat your table or wall like an altar for clarity. No candles or incense needed — though you can add them if you like. The real power is this: by externalizing your thoughts, you show respect for your own mind. You say: This matters enough to be seen.
Your Externalizing Ritual
Take your named notes and:
Place each one where it feels right on your table or wall.
Stand back. Look at them as a whole.
Touch them — reorder them — notice what draws your eye.
Observe how your body reacts. Which feel big? Which feel small?
The Shift
You’re no longer trapped inside your own mind. The problem lives outside you now — where you can see it, touch it, shape it.
You’ve turned a clearing into a living map. Next, you’ll learn how to plant that map and watch new pathways appear.
Ready to take this practice deeper?
If you loved this blend of science and simple ritual, my Get Unstuck mini-course will guide you step-by-step through naming, externalizing, and planting your ideas — so you can clear overwhelm, grow clarity, and move forward with ease.a
