Forgetful? Tips to Help You Remember Things

With so many things to do throughout our day, it's hard to remember everything. Particularly those little chores that we have to remember after work or two weeks from now. I don't know about you, but sometimes I think I could forget my name and my head if it weren't attached. I really admire and respect those moms with lots of little kids running around or those with multiple jobs. I don't know how they manage to remember things.

Between the busy lives my husband and I live, coupled with health issues and prescriptions that can really make you forgetful, it was (and still is!) getting really annoying. I forget things all the time. Hmm...did unplug the coffee pot? Did I remember to pick up rolls for the hot dogs for tonight's dinner? Um, no. Of course I forgot! I just can't remember things.

So, even though I still have a tough remembering to do everything I need to do, I have improved a little bit. I had to develop new habits that would help me be less forgetful. I am sure that I look a tad silly and seem like I am over 100 years old when I am only 33, but I don't care. I have to do what I have to do to keep from forgetting important things.

Some how I have a feeling that I am not alone in forgetting things. I bet many of you reading this right now, are so engrossed that you are forgetting to something at this very moment! Here are a few ideas to help you remember things that help me not be so forgetful.

Safety issues:
While at work or other social functions, I became obsessed as to whether or not I remembered to unplug the iron. One Christmas my father-in-law even had to drive me home from his house to my own to make sure it was unplugged and it was. We were almost late for Christmas Eve service and I got teased about it for a long time. Forgetting this type of things is frustrating so I developed the routine of physically taking the iron from our office downstairs to the kitchen. I place it on a hot plate on the counter away from everything else. I do this with my flat iron as well. Just the act of moving the item to another location calms me later and helps me remember that I did in fact unplug the iron.

Other electrical things:
There are plenty of things already in the kitchen to worry whether or not I unplugged them, but since they are already in the kitchen, I am not going to move them. Having a coffee pot in your bathroom would be odd wouldn't it? So instead, to help me remember if I unplugged the coffee pot, I run my hand over the outlet, wiggle the unplugged cord, and touch the cold coffee pot. This action helps me visualize later that the coffee pot is unplugged should I start worrying about it. Same goes for the toaster and the oven.

Chores later in the day:
I have a Post-It Note for just about everything, particularly if it is urgent or will happen later that same day. Thank God for the man who invented them. He is the King of helping me remembering things! And just having a note isn't enough. I actually place it where it will help me remember things. For example, if I need to remember to leave the house and bring something with me, I write it on a Post-It Note, then place it on my purse. My keys are in my purse so I know I will always need both to leave. Once I pick up my purse, the Post-It Note reminds me of the things I need to bring. And if I don't need that item until the end of the day, that Post-It Note comes with me and rests on my purse in my office drawer until I leave for the day. How else do you think I remember the serum for my allergy shots once a week? That's hard for me to remember!

Tasks for later in the week, month or year:
My Microsoft Outlook calendar tells me where to be, when to be there, what to bring, what I need to wear, when to breathe, when to blink, OK, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it sure helps me remember things. And the best part is I can set automatic reminders for minutes, hours, day, weeks or months away. A little pop-up box comes up to say "Hey, don't forget to do this." I love it. And it's really helpful for things like remembering people's birthdays, annual doctor's appointments, car inspections and more.

Lists, lists and more lists:
In addition to all these techniques to help me remember things, I have a book with lists for the week, month, summer, etc. I group the lists any way I want according to what I have going on at a given time and just keep a running list of things I need to buy, pick up, places I need to stop by, appointments and other things in general that I just don't want to forget about. It doesn't matter how big or small the task is, if I can forget it, it's on the list. Then as I accomplish things, I cross them off and place a check mark by it. Then I know it's done and I didn't forget.

Leave messages:
If I need to remember something at work while I am at home and I am really concerned that I'll forget by the time I get to the office, I will leave myself a voice mail on my work phone. If I am out and I need to remember something when I get home, I will call my cell phone and leave a message there, this way when I see I have a message on either of those phones, it prompts me to check my voice mail and do the task I need to remember.

Write messages:
Since I am a very visual person, leaving messages to remember things works well in the form of emails as well. I use my inbox on my work email account and my personal email account as a reminder to do something. When a message's subject line is bold, it prompts me to read it and remember what I need to do. If I've already read the message, often I will mark it as unread so it remains bold in my inbox until I address it. Once it's been dealt with, I either delete it or file it in a folder. My co-workers know this works best for me so whenever they want me to remember something, they email me!