I’m going to take a moment to be a hypocrite and try to tell you how to do something that I’m really bad at: recalling names, facts, details, and other important stuff necessary to having your life together.
I once had a teacher who on the first day of class would look each of her students in the eyes and, without breaking eye contact, would repeat their name loudly a dozen times. It was unorthodox and mildly terrifying, but it worked.
If you’re even a little bit like me, you’re familiar with that pit-in-your-stomach, “Oh dear God no, I’ve forgotten something important” feeling. Sometimes it is a text that you forgot to respond to, sometimes it is a dentist appointment, and sometimes it is your best friend’s birthday. Whoops!
I’ve searched for the solution to fill the gaps in my sieve-like mind, and most sources recommend making up cute rhymes and using mnemonic devices. Here’s some advice that I would actually probably take, but please don’t hold me to that. I’ll consider it a public service announcement for my fellow forgetful friends.
Use your mobile calendar and notepad
As soon as you make an appointment, put it in your phone and set an alarm or you might be sorry. I don’t carry a pen and paper with me every moment of every day, but I do always carry my smartphone so there’s no chance of missing my high-priority Snapchats and Instagram direct messages.
Leave notes in places you can’t avoid
Your computer monitor, the dashboard of your car, the bathroom mirror: all places that you’re probably going to look at on a regular basis where you can post fun colour-coordinated reminders of all the crushing responsibilities weighing on you.
Be happy already
Research shows that when you’re happy, healthy, and well-rested you retain information more effectively. Well, shoot! I was so anxious trying to remember the dates for my exams, I forgot to be happy. I foresee this being a terrible, awful downward spiral.
Put the onus on somebody else
This should really be tip number one. You’re a busy person! Doesn’t your mind deserve a rest? Tell the person nearest to you to remind you and then you have an irrevocable licence to forget.
Pay attention
It’s your life, so I wouldn’t feel guilty concentrating on it more than other things if I were you — or if I were me, for that matter.
Here’s one last pearl of wisdom before I go: borrow ebooks from the library. You don’t even have to step foot in a library to return them and you’ll never pay another fine since they just disappear from your account at the end of your loan. Technology has sprung leaps and bounds for us forgetful people. What a time to be alive!
