Closing Open Tabs

Do you ever feel like your brain is like an internet browser with a bunch of tabs open?

Me too. One of the things I found super fascinating when learning about Human Design was that there are different explanations for why you may be someone who experiences this feeling more than others. Before I go into this more deeply since it is going to focus on what I've learned through Human Design, if you're unfamiliar with what Human Design is, before reading on, head over to my intro to Human Design post here. Then head over here to get your free chart emailed to you. Once you have your chart, it will be easier to understand what I'm going to talk about today and to see if it applies to you! That said, you can also absolutely just use your intuition to see if what I'm talking about resonates with you :) Apply what does, leave what doesn't! Really Human Design just puts some language behind why you may feel and operate the way that you do in life. So if you're self aware and following your intuition, you'll essentially be applying what Human Design is all about. I just find Human Design to be super helpful in putting things in perspective about my own unique experience- and I think you may find it helpful too! 

Ok back to the open tabs ;) The way I think of it is the open tabs are the various things swirling around in my brain on a daily basis. I recently heard this stat that around 90% or more of our thoughts are repetitive. It blew my mind because I think that's totally accurate. And I find that usually the things I'm repetitively thinking about are things that need some sort of action or solution. They keep popping up in my brain because they require attention, or at least my brain thinks they do. Some of the repetitive thoughts are pretty benign, and frankly we can never put to rest. Example: what are we going to have for dinner tonight? I mean do we ever consider the fact that every single day of our lives we have to answer this question? LOL. So that's an open tab we may never be able to close, but isn't a tab that likely requires as much of our attention. But what about all the other open tabs?

How strongly you feel this sensation of open tabs or not could be explained in part by your Human Design. In Human Design, there's a concept of defined and undefined centers in your chart. To explain simply, if you have a center defined, it means that you have consistent and stable energy flow related to whatever that center is. You are able to radiate the energy of that defined center out into the world. It's basically an area of strength for you. If you have a center that is undefined, it means you are open to taking in and amplifying the energy of that center from other people and the environment. You react more to external influences for that center than to be a source yourself. To simplify this concept even further, I would say the areas you are defined in are areas of personal strength where you are less influenced by outside opinions. Where you are undefined, you are likely to consider a lot of different outside opinions and ideas. How you apply this concept of undefined or defined is a little different depending on what center we're talking about. Today I'm going to focus on talking about the Head and Ajna Center. If you get your own chart for free here, you will be able to see if your head or Ajna center is defined or undefined. That will help put this in context a bit, but I will explain it here too and you can see if it resonates with you intuitively. I'm going to quote directly from my chart to make this comprehensive (source: International Human Design School):

"Head Center- Mental Pressure and Inspiration. The Head Center operates as a pressure to comprehend, to think and make sense of things in the world. Its pressure moves our thoughts toward conceptualization in the Ajna Center by pushing our questions toward formulas and opinions, clarification and insight, and our confusion toward realization and ideas. Human Design refers to this pressure as inspiration - the ways we have of taking in information from the cosmic field of consciousness. Quite simply, this is the pressure to ask questions, and expect answers, that we experience throughout our day."

I have an undefined Head Center. I'm going to quote directly from my chart what that means:

"Your undefined Head Center has no consistent way of deliberating mental information. Moment-to-moment inspiration can become an amplified pressure to think about things that don’t matter, and you can get lost in your own mental monologue with meaningless thoughts and questions. The real potential of the undefined Head Center is to wonder and explore the mystery of life, human consciousness, and the intellectual possibilities of an infinite range of subjects."

Next up, we're going to talk about the Ajna Center.  

"Ajna Center- Mental Awareness, the Mind. The Head and Ajna Centers function together as the mind. The Ajna Center is a processing hub, transforming the pressure of inspiration from the Head Center, into useful information for review, research, and communication. Our perceptions are derived from two major processes: one is visual and one is acoustic. The visual is concerned with what has been and what might be. The acoustic is associated with pure inspiration and the pressure to know now. The frequency of our mental process operates over all time."

I have an undefined Ajna Center. I'm going to quote directly from my chart what that means:

"With your open Ajna you have a flexible way of processing and conceptualizing ideas and inspiration. Once your mind is set free from conditioning, it is open to a full range of intellectual stimulation and creativity. Once you realize and have accepted that your mind operates in an inconsistent way, and that you can never really be certain about anything, your mind becomes a playground. It reverts to its correct role as a classroom, a delightful source of entertainment, and a treasure trove of wisdom for others. Using your Strategy and Authority, you’re here to have the wisdom to know which mental concepts are actually of value."

I remember before I learned about Human Design, I had a Reiki appointment where my Reiki practitioner, when positioned over my head reported, "wow, there is a lot of stuff going on up here in your head." Well, that tracks LOL. With a combined undefined head and Ajna, I realized it is NO WONDER that I can feel like I constantly have open tabs in my brain. It's because I am built in a way that my brain and Ajna centers are just constantly being stimulated by the world outside of me since they are undefined. I'm constantly thinking about issues and concepts, batting them around and considering a whole host of ideas around them. I think the positive result of this is that I can come up with endless possibilities. I think the negative result of this is that I can come up with endless possibilities LOL. So it becomes difficult for me to just settle on one solution and sort of "close the issue out" so to speak. Ok so let's put this in simpler terms. A question of "what should I have for dinner?" could spin around all day. Well I could have soup, or I could have pasta, or I could get take out, or I could go out to eat…. And they all seem like great ideas. So the "what's for dinner" question could spin around as an open tab all day, every day of my life. So how do I address this conundrum, and figure out how to close out all the open tabs which exist for basically every subject in my life? What to have for dinner is certainly not that pressing, but imagine all the other tabs I have open!!! Basically anything that isn't "figured out" yet is an open tab. If this general feeling resonates with you, you may also have either or both an undefined head and/or Ajna.

The defined and undefined centers are a big part of Human Design, but not all of it. There are other areas of your chart to explore than can help to explain why you think the way you do, why you operate the way you do. So even if you have a defined head or Ajna, but you feel this way, there are other areas in your chart that can explain why you may feel that way. I won't go down a rabbit hole on that now, but you can hit me up if you want my help with this. But with my undefined head and Ajna, I needed to look deeper into my chart to understand how I can address some of the stress that comes with this. What helps me most with the stress of all the open tabs due to my undefined centers, is to get out of my head and into action. As far as which action to pick for a given issue, I lean into other parts of my chart that indicate my strengths. Some of those strengths include a natural strength at efficiency, and a predisposition to choosing the actions that light me up and produce the most joy. So as for what to make for dinner tonight? Well, tacos sound delicious and excite me, AND they're easy to make, even if I haven't grocery shopped. So that's my action for dinner. Finding a solution for how to design flowers for a space? I lean into my gift of creativity and innovation. I imagine what could be really cool and unique, rather then relying on what others have done or what's familiar. Each of us has different strengths and gifts we have come here with, and they can be the guide for solving the problems in life we have to tackle. If we lead with our strengths and gifts, not only will it be more pleasurable for us, it will also help others.  

This week I had a lot of open tabs I wanted to close out. I know why I have that feeling, because it's exactly what my human design demonstrates. So I also used my human design to figure out how to close those tabs out. With an undefined head, it's better if I get out of my head and move towards action. I use my strengths and gifts to go about things in as easy and enjoyable a way as possible. I had an open tab of needing to make a doctor's appointment. The options presented were an appointment for 2 days later, or for February 2026. I chose 2 days later. Why? Because it is more efficient (one of my strengths) and because I knew if I waited until February 2026, that tab would be open in my head for another year ;) The more I closed tabs, the more I wanted to close other ones. It felt freeing. The reality is there will always be open tabs for me, but it doesn't take away from the sense of accomplishment and greater sense of peace created by closing some out that I have some control over.

If you find yourself in this position and could use some help, definitely start with digging into your Human Design a bit. If you find it interesting, dig deeper. I love the Human Design App with Jenna Zoe, which gives you insight into your gifts and strengths. I think you'll find when you dig in that it resonates strongly, and sort of validates what you already know to be true about  yourself. It can stop that second guessing, and confirm your path of least resistance in life. It can help guide you into solutions for some of the things that challenge you; like in my case, the open tabs in my brain lol. I hope it helps free you as much as it has me ;)

XO