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Oh, It Tuesday: How Does One To Remember To Put Things On One’s To-Do List?

Photo Credit: Emilio Garcia

For the most part, I think getting older is the bomb. In my opinion, I’m happier, smarter, saner, and more good-looking than I’ve ever been. I still have a few leftover anxiety issues, but even those seem to be getting better with time. And if this is what my 30s are like, I can’t wait for my 40s, b/c they’re going to be DOPE. Except …

The memory thing. I’ve never been the type to write things down, as I’ve long held the theory that if an idea is really good, then I’ll remember it. And that worked quite well for a while, but not so much anymore. I’ll look back through my Writing Pad journal, and I’ll find all sorts of fantastic ideas that I just don’t remember writing. And I can often remember quite clearly coming up with the perfect solution for a problematic plot point in the shower … but I don’t remember what it was. I can’t tell you how frustrating this is.

The memory erosion has also worked its way into my regular life. I’ve come to accept this year, that if I don’t make a list before going away on trips, then something super-duper important will be left behind. For example, I forgot to bring my contacts to Hawaii — that was an expensive and time-consuming mistake. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to Target, only to discover when I got home that I had forgotten to buy something really important, because I had forgotten to put on the shopping list.

So I’ve accepted that I need to start keeping lists of questions, ideas, shopping items, etc. But I still haven’t figured out how to remember things long enough to put them on the list. Great ideas are lost in the 30 minutes it takes me to get ready after my morning shower. The need for toothpaste flies out of my head, when I scoop my daughter out of her crib.

Does anyone have any clever methods for keeping lists that gets around the original memory problem? If so, let me know in the comments.