WEBVTT - Stop forgetting things

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to stop forgetting things. We

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<v Speaker 1>all forget things sunglasses on a glaringly bright day, to

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<v Speaker 1>stop by the dry cleaner on the way home from work,

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<v Speaker 1>to get tickets to that concert before it sells out.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got a busy life, forgetting things can be

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly frustrating. It feels like such an avoidable waste of time.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most heartbreaking entries I ever saw on

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<v Speaker 1>a time log was from a woman who had been

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<v Speaker 1>up multiple times during the night, but whould still summon

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<v Speaker 1>the energy to drive herself in the snow to the

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<v Speaker 1>gym at six am. Then, wearing her snow boots, she

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<v Speaker 1>looked in her gym bag no shoes. On her time logs,

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<v Speaker 1>she wrote, no spin class today. Fortunately, there are you

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<v Speaker 1>strategies you can use to stop forgetting items and tasks

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<v Speaker 1>for objects. Be ruthless about giving items a home. In

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<v Speaker 1>my house, shoes, coats, and sports equipment are always in

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<v Speaker 1>the mud room where we enter the house. There is

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely no other place these items can be. Anything found

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<v Speaker 1>elsewhere is immediately returned to the mudroom, just as you

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<v Speaker 1>might return a fork to the silverware drawer if you

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<v Speaker 1>happen to find it elsewhere. This is how we get

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<v Speaker 1>out the door on time, well most days. Likewise, after

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<v Speaker 1>I run, I immediately returned my driver's license and house

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<v Speaker 1>key to my purse. I do this first thing upon

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<v Speaker 1>walking in the door, before I even get a glass

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<v Speaker 1>of water. Otherwise I know I would always be fishing

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<v Speaker 1>them out of the washing machine. As for tasks, keep

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<v Speaker 1>a list somewhere that you trust you'll check frequently. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean multiple times per day. I use an old fashioned

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<v Speaker 1>paper planner that I always have on my desk. Because

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<v Speaker 1>I were from home, I can look at the planner

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<v Speaker 1>on weekends too, But if I worked in an office,

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<v Speaker 1>i'd carry it home with me for my days off.

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<v Speaker 1>I put both work and personal tasks on there. The

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<v Speaker 1>way I see it, I am one person. I have

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<v Speaker 1>one set of hours, so I keep one list, because

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<v Speaker 1>if I had two lists for work and home, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>be dropping balls left and right. I'd forget that work

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<v Speaker 1>task I had to do over the weekend, or to

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<v Speaker 1>call the dentist's office during business hours. I also suggest

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<v Speaker 1>putting time bound items on your calendar for the day

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<v Speaker 1>when you'll need to think of them. So, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>this year, I saw that summer reservations opened up on

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<v Speaker 1>May one for this restaurant I really wanted to try,

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<v Speaker 1>but I know often sells out almost immediately. I put

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<v Speaker 1>a note from Mace first, of course, so I could call.

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<v Speaker 1>But and this is key. I also put a note

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<v Speaker 1>on April, which was the friday before May one. I

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<v Speaker 1>planned my weeks on Fridays. Putting a note on the

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<v Speaker 1>friday before I plan to do something means I can

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<v Speaker 1>check any specific logistics and make sure I don't miss

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<v Speaker 1>my window. So if tickets for something go on sale

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<v Speaker 1>at midnight Pacific time on a day, that's a different

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<v Speaker 1>matter than ten a m. Eastern. If ten a m.

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<v Speaker 1>Eastern is my window, I can suggest someone call me

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<v Speaker 1>at ten thirty rather than ten. I know this sounds intense, perhaps,

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<v Speaker 1>but this is how I routinely get tickets to things

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<v Speaker 1>that sell out in minutes. It's not that I have

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<v Speaker 1>a perfect memory, far from it. Instead, I figured out

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<v Speaker 1>how to use my planner and my calendar to magnify

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<v Speaker 1>my limited brain power. Now I don't walk around with

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<v Speaker 1>my planner all the time, of course, but I've noticed

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<v Speaker 1>that I almost always have my phone with me. That's

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<v Speaker 1>why some people keep their to do lists on their phones,

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<v Speaker 1>and that can work. I don't like to do that,

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<v Speaker 1>but I do know that I check my inbox frequently

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<v Speaker 1>when I am at my desk with my planner, So

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<v Speaker 1>if I'm out and about and think of something, I

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<v Speaker 1>will email myself notes. Then I can transfer those notes

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<v Speaker 1>to the planner at a later time. Of course, then

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<v Speaker 1>there are those times when you're on the go and

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<v Speaker 1>will need to remember something sooner than the next time

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<v Speaker 1>you get to your desk. For instance, maybe your spouse

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<v Speaker 1>calls you at work and asks you to get one

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<v Speaker 1>thing at the store on the way home. For something

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<v Speaker 1>like this, I'll often write it on my hand. My

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<v Speaker 1>hands are usually in my field of vision, and most

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<v Speaker 1>pinnank only lasts for about two hand washings. You probably

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't do this if you're about to go meet with

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<v Speaker 1>your CEO, or your hands will be photographed or something,

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<v Speaker 1>but my life is not that glamorous. It works fine

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<v Speaker 1>for me. Finally, one of my favorite hacks is borrowed

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<v Speaker 1>from my high school chemistry teacher. She was always willing

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<v Speaker 1>to lend people calculators or books, whatever they forgot. There

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<v Speaker 1>was just one condition. If you borrowed something, you had

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<v Speaker 1>to give her one shoe. She had learned that people

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<v Speaker 1>would leave without anything else she collected as collateral like

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<v Speaker 1>a student I D card or something. But no one

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<v Speaker 1>walked into the hallway wearing one shoe. The physical sensation

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<v Speaker 1>of something being wrong would nudge the rowed item back

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<v Speaker 1>to the front of that person's brain. Now, I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>saying you should try this for getting back items you

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<v Speaker 1>lend to colleagues. But if you're working at your desk

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<v Speaker 1>and there's something you really need to remember as you're

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<v Speaker 1>leaving and you're not sure you will remember it, you

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<v Speaker 1>might take off one shoe. When you get up to go,

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<v Speaker 1>You're missing shoe will force your brain out of automatic mode.

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<v Speaker 1>You'll think, oh, yes, I'm supposed to stop by Pete's

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<v Speaker 1>desk because I'm giving him a ride home today. You'd

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<v Speaker 1>hate to remember this when you're fifteen minutes down the freeway.

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<v Speaker 1>What tactics do you have for remembering things? I'd love

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<v Speaker 1>to hear your tips. You can email me at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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