Stop forgetting things

Never lose your sunglasses or miss a date again with these little life hacks.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to stop forgetting things. We
all forget things sunglasses on a glaringly bright day, to
stop by the dry cleaner on the way home from work,

(00:24):
to get tickets to that concert before it sells out.
If you've got a busy life, forgetting things can be
incredibly frustrating. It feels like such an avoidable waste of time.
One of the most heartbreaking entries I ever saw on
a time log was from a woman who had been
up multiple times during the night, but whould still summon
the energy to drive herself in the snow to the

(00:45):
gym at six am. Then, wearing her snow boots, she
looked in her gym bag no shoes. On her time logs,
she wrote, no spin class today. Fortunately, there are you
strategies you can use to stop forgetting items and tasks
for objects. Be ruthless about giving items a home. In

(01:09):
my house, shoes, coats, and sports equipment are always in
the mud room where we enter the house. There is
absolutely no other place these items can be. Anything found
elsewhere is immediately returned to the mudroom, just as you
might return a fork to the silverware drawer if you
happen to find it elsewhere. This is how we get
out the door on time, well most days. Likewise, after

(01:33):
I run, I immediately returned my driver's license and house
key to my purse. I do this first thing upon
walking in the door, before I even get a glass
of water. Otherwise I know I would always be fishing
them out of the washing machine. As for tasks, keep
a list somewhere that you trust you'll check frequently. I
mean multiple times per day. I use an old fashioned

(01:56):
paper planner that I always have on my desk. Because
I were from home, I can look at the planner
on weekends too, But if I worked in an office,
i'd carry it home with me for my days off.
I put both work and personal tasks on there. The
way I see it, I am one person. I have
one set of hours, so I keep one list, because

(02:17):
if I had two lists for work and home, I'd
be dropping balls left and right. I'd forget that work
task I had to do over the weekend, or to
call the dentist's office during business hours. I also suggest
putting time bound items on your calendar for the day
when you'll need to think of them. So, for instance,
this year, I saw that summer reservations opened up on

(02:38):
May one for this restaurant I really wanted to try,
but I know often sells out almost immediately. I put
a note from Mace first, of course, so I could call.
But and this is key. I also put a note
on April, which was the friday before May one. I
planned my weeks on Fridays. Putting a note on the
friday before I plan to do something means I can

(03:00):
check any specific logistics and make sure I don't miss
my window. So if tickets for something go on sale
at midnight Pacific time on a day, that's a different
matter than ten a m. Eastern. If ten a m.
Eastern is my window, I can suggest someone call me
at ten thirty rather than ten. I know this sounds intense, perhaps,
but this is how I routinely get tickets to things

(03:20):
that sell out in minutes. It's not that I have
a perfect memory, far from it. Instead, I figured out
how to use my planner and my calendar to magnify
my limited brain power. Now I don't walk around with
my planner all the time, of course, but I've noticed
that I almost always have my phone with me. That's
why some people keep their to do lists on their phones,

(03:40):
and that can work. I don't like to do that,
but I do know that I check my inbox frequently
when I am at my desk with my planner, So
if I'm out and about and think of something, I
will email myself notes. Then I can transfer those notes
to the planner at a later time. Of course, then
there are those times when you're on the go and
will need to remember something sooner than the next time

(04:02):
you get to your desk. For instance, maybe your spouse
calls you at work and asks you to get one
thing at the store on the way home. For something
like this, I'll often write it on my hand. My
hands are usually in my field of vision, and most
pinnank only lasts for about two hand washings. You probably
wouldn't do this if you're about to go meet with
your CEO, or your hands will be photographed or something,

(04:23):
but my life is not that glamorous. It works fine
for me. Finally, one of my favorite hacks is borrowed
from my high school chemistry teacher. She was always willing
to lend people calculators or books, whatever they forgot. There
was just one condition. If you borrowed something, you had
to give her one shoe. She had learned that people

(04:46):
would leave without anything else she collected as collateral like
a student I D card or something. But no one
walked into the hallway wearing one shoe. The physical sensation
of something being wrong would nudge the rowed item back
to the front of that person's brain. Now, I'm not
saying you should try this for getting back items you
lend to colleagues. But if you're working at your desk

(05:08):
and there's something you really need to remember as you're
leaving and you're not sure you will remember it, you
might take off one shoe. When you get up to go,
You're missing shoe will force your brain out of automatic mode.
You'll think, oh, yes, I'm supposed to stop by Pete's
desk because I'm giving him a ride home today. You'd
hate to remember this when you're fifteen minutes down the freeway.

(05:31):
What tactics do you have for remembering things? I'd love
to hear your tips. You can email me at Before
Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

(05:54):
hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,
then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

(06:15):
dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

(06:36):
your favorite shows.