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Don’t Forget Your Brain began with a feeling that was difficult to ignore:
Modern life makes it remarkably easy to consume information without having to do very much with it. Answers can be searched in seconds. Directions are remembered for us. Recommendations decide what we watch next. AI can help us write, summarise, plan and solve. Social media fills the spaces that might once have been used to engage the brain.
None of these things are inherently bad. Technology is extremely useful. But I began to wonder whether, alongside all that convenience, I was giving my own mind fewer reasons to concentrate, remember, work something out, question an assumption or simply stay with a thought.
The more I spoke about it, the less it seemed like an individual experience. Friends described something similar: a sense that they were constantly taking things in, but not always actively thinking.
That became the starting point for Don’t Forget Your Brain.
From an Idea to a 12-Week Structure
The book developed around twelve areas of thinking:
Attention, Memory, Reasoning, Curiosity, Creativity, Discipline, Communication, Decision-Making, Resilience, Wisdom, Independence and Meaning.
The order is intentional. The early chapters begin with cognitive foundations such as attention, memory and reasoning. From there, the book moves into curiosity, creativity and communication, before exploring decision-making, resilience and the broader questions of wisdom, independence and meaning.
Each chapter approaches its theme from several directions rather than repeating the same kind of exercise.
Readers might be asked to recall information without immediately looking it up, identify an assumption, solve a logic problem, notice something usually overlooked, generate an original idea, consider both sides of an argument or reflect on how their judgement may have been influenced.
The format changes, but the underlying practice remains the same: actively using your own mind.
Why 10 minutes a Day?
The book was designed to feel achievable rather than overwhelming.
Most Monday-to-Friday challenges take around 10–15 minutes, with a brief weekend overview. Each day offers a different kind of mental task.
The aim is not to recreate school, add another demanding routine or ask readers to spend hours studying. It is simply to create a regular reason to stop consuming for a moment and do something more active instead.
Some challenges may feel easy. Others may be frustrating. Some will suit one person far more naturally than another.
That variation is deliberate.
Why a Physical Book?
There was always something slightly contradictory about turning this idea into another app. If the purpose was to create more opportunities to think away from constant digital input, the format needed to reflect that.
A physical book creates a different kind of space.
There are no notifications, algorithms, streaks or recommendations waiting at the edge of the page. There is simply the challenge in front of you and whatever you bring to it.
What I Wanted the Book to Avoid
From the beginning, there were several things I did not want Don’t Forget Your Brain to become.
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I did not want it to suggest that technology is the enemy.
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I did not want it to promise a higher IQ, a “rewired brain” or a scientifically measurable transformation after twelve weeks.
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I did not want it to become another productivity system focused on squeezing more output from every hour.
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And I did not want it to feel like a wellness journal with different branding.
Instead, I wanted to create something intellectually engaging but accessible: a book that could introduce an unfamiliar idea one day, make you solve something the next and then ask a question that stays with you afterwards.
A book that takes thought seriously without taking itself too seriously.
How the Content Was Developed
The book combines several kinds of material.
Some challenges are informed by established ideas from cognitive psychology, behavioural science, learning research and social psychology. Others use historical examples, philosophical frameworks, language, observation or practical reasoning.
Alongside these are original exercises created specifically for the book.
Research findings were used where they could provide a useful foundation. Philosophy was used where the questions were broader. Historical examples were included where they offered a compelling way to examine how people reason, discover, communicate or change their minds.
The result is intentionally varied: part cognitive challenge, part intellectual exploration and part invitation to reflect more deliberately on how we think.
For readers who want to explore these foundations further, the Research & Foundations page sets out some of the ideas and literature that informed the book.
The Bigger Idea
The book is built around a simple belief: convenience and active thought do not have to be opposites.
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We can use search engines and still practise remembering.
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We can use AI and still form our own arguments.
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We can benefit from algorithms while remaining curious about what they are not showing us.
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We can enjoy entertainment while also making space for concentration, learning and ideas that require more than a few seconds of attention.
The goal is not to do everything the difficult way.
It is simply not to forget what our own minds are capable of doing.
Don’t Forget Your Brain was created from a simple concern: in a world where information, answers and entertainment are constantly available, how often are we deliberately using our own attention, memory, reasoning and judgement?
The book is not based on the idea that technology is inherently harmful, nor does it promise to increase intelligence or “rewire” the brain. Instead, it brings together established ideas from cognitive psychology, behavioural science, learning research, philosophy and social psychology, and turns them into short opportunities for active thought.