Long-Term vs. Working Memory

The file for the next shot is created in our long-term memory and then handed off to the working memory to execute the shot. Our long-term memory is infinite, but our working memory is limited in both capacity and duration.

It’s important that your memory is not overwhelmed with too many things. When there are too many things uploaded to our working memory, it performs like your iPhone when you have too many apps open. It just shuts down.

This is why you can’t be thinking while you’re shooting. You must predict in detail the movie of how and where you want the shot to come together and then execute the prediction.

Regardless of the result, any shot you take without a prediction does not go into your long-term memory. It’s the prediction of where and how you want the shot to come together that allows the long-term memory to put the file together correctly the first time!