Use Your Smart Phone to Create an Image Reference Library

Image © Depositphotos.com /@maxkabakov

Each of us has a finite amount of brain “bandwidth”. It’s my philosophy that our brain power should be allocated to important activities such as problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking and dreaming up big ideas. Instead, we often find ourselves devoting this precious resource to mundane tasks such as remembering what we need to pick up at the grocery store:

…and trying to recollect the model numbers for our printer cartridges.

Do your brain a favor and delegate the task of remembering minutiae to your smart phone. The above-two images are just a few of the many on my camera roll that serve as an ongoing “image reference library” for things I often need to refer to, but don’t need to waste precious brain cells in order to commit to memory.

Use your image reference library to quickly answer questions like “Is my favorite foundation color True Beige or Warm Beige?” Since I only purchase this product every 3-6 months, I can never remember. It’s annoying and costly when you choose the wrong shade. Am I right ladies?

Another infrequently purchased item in my home is the refrigerator water filter (which needs replaced every 6 months or so). Perfect candidate for the smart phone image reference library!

As most blog readers are well aware, my home is undergoing an extensive redesign, which includes a new color scheme. Having an image of of the paint color selections in my image reference library certainly came in handy when purchasing additional paint during the course of the painting project.

How often have you needed to provide your license plate number (for insurance purposes or for parking privileges during a hotel stay) and had to schlep outside to write it down? Take a photo and save to your smart phone camera roll for quick reference.

Saving time and freeing up your brain bandwidth for important thinking is a beautiful thing. I know that many of you already take advantage of your smart phone in this way. If you do, please share the contents of your smart phone image reference library in the comments section below so that we can all glean awesome ideas from one another!