Many of us have heard of tying a piece of string around your pointer finger to remind ourselves of something that we need to remember; perhaps some of you have done this. I know I have, but for some people, myself included, the knot trick just is not enough to help you remember.
It can be really difficult being someone with memory issues; It can make it difficult to remember your schedule or remember to send that important email. I find myself leaving post it notes around the house written in glittery pens and bubble letters with ten or more exclamation points.
I find myself panicking to a find a paper and pencil to jot down a thought and then losing it before I even find anything to write with.
It can be so incredibly frustrating.
Not only that, but it can be embarrassing when you begin forgetting things in front of others. It makes you look unorganized and scatterbrained, and I constantly feel paranoid that others are judging me for being so forgetful.
Just today, I forgot my equipment for practice; how do you even manage to forget the single most important thing needed for color guard? Who knows, but apparently I did. Not only that, but my car key and lanyard were wrapped around it, and I still managed to forget it.
Often times, I find myself forgetting important papers for classes, or names of people who I am supposed to meet up with for study groups.
They always say that elephants never forget anything, so I guess that means that an elephant is definitely not my spirit animal.
Everyone remembers things differently, and everything works differently for everyone. For me: multiple post-it notes are most effective.
I love to use brightly colored glitter pens to write with because it attracts my eyes, and I am more likely to look at it. Also: I use a planner to keep track of scheduling.
When remembering people’s names, I find that best way to remember is to make a mnemonic with their name. For example, when I met my friend Allie, I met her through my other friend, Kat. So, I remembered her name from the mnemonic “Allie Kat” (kind of like alley cat). They may be dumb ways of remembering, but for me, it is very helpful.
My psychologist recommended that I carry around a small notebook and pen with me at all times; this helps me when I get random thoughts and need to write them down.
Everyone is different; therefore, we all need to find what works best for us.
One thing that may help you may be ineffective for someone else, and that is ok. We all need to experiment and find what is best for us all.
