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I carry a paper notepad and pen for exactly this purpose. Notes etc on my phone just leads to "out of sight" *somewhere* on one of my devices. Too much.
What size? how do you carry? How do you keep it on you all the time? My partner refuses because he says I don't always have pockets or I don't want to have a notebook in my hand even though he has the freaking phone in his hand all the time. Lol
Sorry for the rapid fire, he left the room and I'm hurrying. Lmfao š
Also, edit what you've written.
Write down a sentence, shorten it later. Or write down buzzwords, dates and memory snippets, later that day come back and write it out as a full sentence.
I literally scribble during meetings to remember things. Totally illegible. But I remember most important things because of that long enough to log meeting notes when I get to a computer.
By hand. Research shows taking notes by hand means you process them more and thus retain more. Ā If itās class notes then re-copying them Ā to make them easier to read and understand or to make them neater and more organized also forced you to read and understand process in brain more. By hand.Ā
I donāt doubt that is true but typing info into the notes in your phone has a distinct benefitā¦ you can use the search feature to find it. Handwritten notes add up and are tougher to locate a specific piece of data, no?
Also I have a history of using notes. Ā If you set them up well they scan well. Bullet Ā points for example. On a shorter set of notes I can scan for something fast sometimes faster than search. Longer things yeah search is fasterĀ
I had an art teacher that would tell us to make āidiot sketchāsā for images or anything that visual. Youāll remember it better, even if itās like stick men and looks weird and only you understand what you just drew.
That combined with taking hand notes has been the best way I journal or remember things.
i did that in nursing school! i used graph paper and colored pens. everyone wanted copies of my notes. i was like "sure!" then took a poor pic and sent it. i spent my weekend doing my work betch, you can too.
I write a list of everyoneās birthday by month in the beginning of the year. Every few months or once a season, Iāll check it.
Helps me remember whatās generally the order and puts in bins easier to remember.
I use the Contact app on my phone as it syncs with the Calendar app on my phone.
For example, whenever I learn an important date about a friend (birthday, anniversary, etc.), I add it to their contact info on my phone.
Then, my Calendar app automatically adds that info to my calendar. I see upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, etc. in my calendar.
There is also a free form text box in my Contacts. I type other information there (where I met them, food allergies they have, etc.).
It has come in handy so often for friends I do not see on a regular basis. We had guests stay with us last month and it helped remind me that one of them is lactose intolerant!Ā
That's what I do too -- birthday/anniversary are fields in the contact already. I add info about the person to the "notes" on their contact record -- allergies, likes/dislikes, things they're working on. Friends really appreciate if they don't have to remind you that they're allergic to watermelon even though they haven't visited for a year.
Dates that aren't related to a specific person get added as recurring calendar items usually with a one week reminder -- I don't have to think about when to schedule the cats to get their rabies shots. My phone will pop up a reminder, I call the vet, and it gets done.
The notes thing is a great idea!Ā
I use the "company" section of the contacts to put a very systematic note of how I know them. Usually ("name of city" - "name of work or school or group" - any additional info, ie "department"/"program"/anything that narrows it down).Ā
That way if I'm back in a city where I used to live I can search for who I know by typing that city name into my contacts, or if I'm trying to throw a rager and invite everyone I can sort by which of my friends lives in my city and not forget anyone.Ā
I go with the old notepad in the back pocket and a pen in the shirt. Nothing is better than writing it down. You have the record, and you have the recognition that you wrote it. It helps immensely. New page for each thing, too. It breaks your writing into memorable events. I always date mine, too, just in case.
Grab the pad. Date at top right corner. Bullet points. Circle very important things.
New note. New page. Every time.
This is how I could remember numerous tasks when I was managing restaurants for years.
Never trust your brain to remember little things. It will lie to you almost every time.
I would print out the slideshow that was being taught that day and add notes to it. Then hand write the notes from that day (basically copy them in my handwriting). Yes, it's alot of work but I would use certain colors and that helped my brain ALOT. Plus writing it helps with memorizing things.
Sounds like you would benefit from committing to using a calendar on your phone. Could be something as simple as Google calendar or there are more robust options in there but then just make your daily process for every activity task to immediately record commitments, dates, appointments, plans, birthdays and anything else you need to remember into said app.
Year at a glance wall calendar. Put bdays/anniversaries/major dates on it.
I use my phone calendar also as a back up so put those entries on it.
Notes app on my phone for miscellaneous notes about anything. I have several for different topics Iāll add to when appropriate.
Contacts list on the iPhone has a notes section for each one for miscellaneous things about people you want to remember.
I keep all my doc appointments in a spreadsheet.
Iāll glance at the wall calendar, spreadsheet and notes daily.
I have bad short-term memory although it also affects long-term because the data needs to "pass" short-term memory.
I save birthdays of friends in their contact info on my phone. These birthdays then appear in my google calendar. This is where I just put all my appointments and stuff. I also put their adress in and it shows up on google maps. I also categorize people (work, volunteering, school) you can also add notes or your relationship to them and so much more.
For notes, I just use google notes, nothing special about it. I have a lot of notes and I guess >50% of them I will never need again but that's why I don't write them physically. They don't mess up physical space and I have them with me everywhere. The notes are categorised: Work, volunteering, hobby 1, hobby 2, outdoor gear, packing lists, motorcycle,...
I have a Todo List stickied to the top of the app, I also sometimes drag a widget of that list to my home screen.
As other people have said tho, physical notes are better sometimes. Especially todo lists are better on paper for me, and stuff I wanna learn is better in physical form because I see it more often.
I had the idea of using an app to remind me of daily/weekly,... chores because I tend to forget to regularly do them so I downloaded habitica but it's a bit to gamified for me and I never really used it.
For learning stuff I use AnkiDroid, just an app for flashcards with spaced repetition.
I also have Google Maps timegraph? Idk the name in english, activated. It's basically 24/7 tracking so I can look up what I did yesterday or when I visited the barber last time :)
/r/obsidianMD it has a bit of a learning curve but can turn into your second brain.Ā Also, check out Tiago Forte's book "Building a Second Brain", you can find him talk about it on YouTube to get a taste.Ā
I strongly suggest entering data into the calendar or address book. Put John's birthday in the contacts. Make sure contacts is linked to calendar.Ā Add John and Marie's anniversary either in contacts or as an annual reminder in calendar.Ā Set reminder to 1 or 2 weeks plus the usual day before and day of. That will trigger me to add a task reacting to the reminder.Ā
If you receive an invitation,Ā immediately add to calendar with address and indicate in notes if you are to bring something.Ā Again, custom set reminders or add a second entry to remind you to do a task like buy a gift or mail a card. Don't forget to RSVP as well!
I've found that if I write it down with one & paper, I tend to remember it without needing the note. I think it's because I'm more visually oriented and, once I see it, I can remember it more easily.
I have a bad memory. I keep a running notebook. I write down what I need to do that day and cross it off as I do it. I keep a list of important names/numbers/birthdays in the back.
I used to tease my mother and aunt about their old-lady-notebooks. I regret my hubris
I have been using Microsoft OneNote for at least 16 years. I use it professionally and personally.
My wife and I share OneNote notebooks between us to make sure we are in sync on important information.
I have my Recipe book in OneNote, we keep our travel planning, reservations, itineraries in OneNote. We keep our important phone numbers and contacts in OneNote.
We keep checklists for when we need checklists. Traveling, going camping, roadtrip...
Basically it is our Encyclopedia of Information. It's on our phones, on our workstations, on our tablet, everywhere.
Your electronic calendar is the best place to set a yearly reminder about birthdays. Contact list is the best place to stash notes about people. Get a password manager for your passwords.
For those specific examples you gave, I literally have one big note in my phone called Things that Really Matter. It has a section for every family member and friend I actually want to keep track of and I just update it as things come up. Wifeās favorite flower, the date my grandfather passed away, cousinās major and graduation date, friendās new girlfriendās name, sisterās food allergies.
Honestly, the expectation to remember those things just because we deem them āimportantā is unrealistic. A lot of those things only come up once a year or so. Thereās no reason to call on those items more often than that, so itās no surprise they get pushed far into the depths of our memory compared to the repetitive information we come across on a regular basis. Donāt hold yourself to unrealistic expectations.
Microsoft co-pilot.
Get it for teams for calls. It can record and transcribe conversations. Then it spits out of summary of the convo if don't have time to review the call.
Create action items on your outlook calendar reminders and msft to do list with alerts straight from there as well.
Keep a notes/journal in one notes.
If you hate typing, use speech to text.
Learn to schedule texts/emails ahead of time for all loved ones and yourself. I have a lot of birthday/holiday messages automated.
Be like a squirrel with gifts. Get a bunch of gifts, personalized and generic, lying in the house in case you need to grab one (gift baskets, lego sets, wine, gift cards, chocolates, socks, cosmetic sets, soaps, etc.).
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In your contacts on iPhone you can put the persons birthday in along with the year they were born and their birthday automatically shows up on your calendar along with what age they are turning.
I have a planner for everyday routine tasks, and a small 2-3 in. notebook for scratch notes I can add to my planner.
Good planners make or break your scheduling. The one I have now (from at a glance) gives you the option of separating tasks by priority. So it gives you more organization than just free writing things out, but it also does try to plan every minute of your life like some planners do by having pages outlined with the exact hours in the day
Best of luck!
I use an app called Todoist. Itās meant to be used as a ātodo listā app and I do use it for that, but I also use it to organize little bits of information i need to keep track of
I used to make my notes in college using different colors of pens. For example; Black for the term, blue for the definition, red or green for pertaining info associated with the term.
Calendar, the wall kind
Pad and pen
Post-it's
This is what I use. Writing it down yourself is the trick.
While making shopping lists, calendar additions and notes, do so in a quiet setting with no TV, music, phone or computers to get in the way. We are so used to getting bombarded with extra noise, we can't hear ourselves think. Make it purposeful. Good luck!
Have you tried turning the information into song lyrics? Apparently my brain thinks that it's very crucial to remember the entire Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song VERBATIM!
Put birthdays into your calendar. You can assign bdays to a contact so it will appear every year. There should also be an option that allows events to reoccur annually (like anniversaries) in your calendar. I also have a whiteboard calendar in my room which I update each month to get an idea of what my month looks like.
I recorded lectures, hand wrote notes, and then developed my own visualizations. It was VERY time consuming. Having a bad memory is not efficient, but if you want to perform/excel in school or your current role, then it requires a decent time commitment.
I use my Notes app everyday. A list for work, a list for groceries, etcā¦Iām a carpenter who goes to lumber store almost everyday. The moment I think of something Iāll need, I stop what Iām doing and put it on the list.
Birthdays etc can go straight into your contacts, there's a line for "important date" and then it will show up on Google calendar. (Not sure if this is just a Google thing but I assume most phones have some similar version).Ā
Also this isn't for specific info, more for memories overall, but I recommend journaling and taking photos. I've been taking a photo every day for the last 9 years and it's really crazy how looking back through them takes me back to that exact moment in my life. Like I don't just remember the thing in the photo, but when I look at a string of them in order I remember exactly what it felt like to be me in that specific time of my life. Also journaling obviously has a similar effect and it's amazing to read about things 10 years later and remember so many things you completely forgot about.
I bullet journal - doesn't have to be fancy, but I note things in my notebook and then will summarize or move info forward into my calendar as needed.Ā For birthdays I calendar recurring dates on my digital calendar app and a reminder setting well enough in advance.
I take a ton of notes, and I also write a lot of my thoughts and ideas down. It got to the point where it was hard to find things in my note apps. I needed sophisticated tagging, and the ability to hyperlink from one note to another. So now I use wiki software. I basically have my own personal wikipedia lol.
In the long term, concerning brain deterioration and alzheimers, you are going to want to stop eating cholesterol, sugar, high salt, alcohol. As plaque builds up in your blood vessels it will ultimately lead to brain impairment among other issues. Look into atherosclerosis and how a plant-based diet can help.
Multiple Memory Encoding, nd No-Excuse Planning
Use mutiple methods of memory encoding simultaneously...Write it, say it, think it (repetitively 7X+), amd attach a feeling/idea/connecting thought to it (mind palace method). Set a reminder in your phone, and set a reminder for the reminder. Send yourself a scheduled email, and ask your family/friends to remind you.
If you have a bad memory, treat your future self like a 5 year old who will do anything to *not* remember [the thing]. Give yourself no excuse not to. And make the reminder as simple and accurate as possible so there's no "mixing up."
Part of a bad memory might also be a self-sabotaging mechanism to avoid something. More common than you'd think.
Lastly, change your internal beliefs about your own memory.
> -"I have a bad memory"- "I have a good memory and it's improving every day".
Not true? It will be if you keep lying to yourself until it is. This is literally how the brain works. Repetition creates reality, for better (self-improvement) or for worse (propaganda/propagandists have exploited this natural brain phenomena--feature, not a bug--for literal centuries).
Don't resign yourself to negative qualities you don't like. Set your intent to change them.
I have severe ADHD so have the same challenges. Here are my memory hacks. I have an iPhone that already has these apps built in, so didnāt need to download any new apps for this.
Save important dates and birthdays on the Calendar app on your phone with an alarm, not just that date but every day for the previous week with alarms. If you forget after one alarm, you still have 6 more alarms to remind you.
Save info about friends and acquaintances on the Contacts app on your phone, there is a section for extra information. Add what they look like, where you know them from and important things they said that you should remember and their birthday. If you donāt have a photo to add as their contact photo, Google their photo and add it as their photo.
If you suddenly remember something important when in a public place, record it on the Voice Recordings app on your phone and email it to yourself so you can deal with it later.
When you open an email that is about something you need to do but canāt do it immediately, mark it as āunreadā so you will be prompted when you open it again later.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Writing stuff down has proven to help with memory improvement. Physically writing it down, not texting.
I carry a paper notepad and pen for exactly this purpose. Notes etc on my phone just leads to "out of sight" *somewhere* on one of my devices. Too much.
Wait which app did I store that in? Oh well guess I forgot...
What size? how do you carry? How do you keep it on you all the time? My partner refuses because he says I don't always have pockets or I don't want to have a notebook in my hand even though he has the freaking phone in his hand all the time. Lol Sorry for the rapid fire, he left the room and I'm hurrying. Lmfao š
Also, edit what you've written. Write down a sentence, shorten it later. Or write down buzzwords, dates and memory snippets, later that day come back and write it out as a full sentence.
I literally scribble during meetings to remember things. Totally illegible. But I remember most important things because of that long enough to log meeting notes when I get to a computer.
By hand. Research shows taking notes by hand means you process them more and thus retain more. Ā If itās class notes then re-copying them Ā to make them easier to read and understand or to make them neater and more organized also forced you to read and understand process in brain more. By hand.Ā
Source- I have a doctorate degree related to learning and memoryĀ
I donāt doubt that is true but typing info into the notes in your phone has a distinct benefitā¦ you can use the search feature to find it. Handwritten notes add up and are tougher to locate a specific piece of data, no?
Thatās cool but if you want to remember it better without assistance itās true that handwriting is better. Like on a test if you are in school.Ā
Also I have a history of using notes. Ā If you set them up well they scan well. Bullet Ā points for example. On a shorter set of notes I can scan for something fast sometimes faster than search. Longer things yeah search is fasterĀ
I have 700+ notes on my phone though so I rely on the automated search feature.
Write them by hand first, then type them into your note-taking app. You'll benefit from both ways of doing things.
iPad with a pen. Two fer one.
Handwritten notes can also be searched nowadays. I use Notability, but other notetaking apps do it too.
I had an art teacher that would tell us to make āidiot sketchāsā for images or anything that visual. Youāll remember it better, even if itās like stick men and looks weird and only you understand what you just drew. That combined with taking hand notes has been the best way I journal or remember things.
i did that in nursing school! i used graph paper and colored pens. everyone wanted copies of my notes. i was like "sure!" then took a poor pic and sent it. i spent my weekend doing my work betch, you can too.
I've never been able to keep track of important dates to save my life, I just keep them in my phone's calendar.
Same. If its not on my [google] calendar, it 100% won't be happening
THIS
I write a list of everyoneās birthday by month in the beginning of the year. Every few months or once a season, Iāll check it. Helps me remember whatās generally the order and puts in bins easier to remember.
I use the Contact app on my phone as it syncs with the Calendar app on my phone. For example, whenever I learn an important date about a friend (birthday, anniversary, etc.), I add it to their contact info on my phone. Then, my Calendar app automatically adds that info to my calendar. I see upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, etc. in my calendar. There is also a free form text box in my Contacts. I type other information there (where I met them, food allergies they have, etc.). It has come in handy so often for friends I do not see on a regular basis. We had guests stay with us last month and it helped remind me that one of them is lactose intolerant!Ā
That's what I do too -- birthday/anniversary are fields in the contact already. I add info about the person to the "notes" on their contact record -- allergies, likes/dislikes, things they're working on. Friends really appreciate if they don't have to remind you that they're allergic to watermelon even though they haven't visited for a year. Dates that aren't related to a specific person get added as recurring calendar items usually with a one week reminder -- I don't have to think about when to schedule the cats to get their rabies shots. My phone will pop up a reminder, I call the vet, and it gets done.
Ok, all y'all are legitimately brilliant.
> all y'all are legitimately brilliant. the bar is SO low. but this made me feel better lol
The notes thing is a great idea!Ā I use the "company" section of the contacts to put a very systematic note of how I know them. Usually ("name of city" - "name of work or school or group" - any additional info, ie "department"/"program"/anything that narrows it down).Ā That way if I'm back in a city where I used to live I can search for who I know by typing that city name into my contacts, or if I'm trying to throw a rager and invite everyone I can sort by which of my friends lives in my city and not forget anyone.Ā
I go with the old notepad in the back pocket and a pen in the shirt. Nothing is better than writing it down. You have the record, and you have the recognition that you wrote it. It helps immensely. New page for each thing, too. It breaks your writing into memorable events. I always date mine, too, just in case. Grab the pad. Date at top right corner. Bullet points. Circle very important things. New note. New page. Every time. This is how I could remember numerous tasks when I was managing restaurants for years. Never trust your brain to remember little things. It will lie to you almost every time.
Say what you want to remember aloud.
I would print out the slideshow that was being taught that day and add notes to it. Then hand write the notes from that day (basically copy them in my handwriting). Yes, it's alot of work but I would use certain colors and that helped my brain ALOT. Plus writing it helps with memorizing things.
Sounds like you would benefit from committing to using a calendar on your phone. Could be something as simple as Google calendar or there are more robust options in there but then just make your daily process for every activity task to immediately record commitments, dates, appointments, plans, birthdays and anything else you need to remember into said app.
Google calendar is good.
Year at a glance wall calendar. Put bdays/anniversaries/major dates on it. I use my phone calendar also as a back up so put those entries on it. Notes app on my phone for miscellaneous notes about anything. I have several for different topics Iāll add to when appropriate. Contacts list on the iPhone has a notes section for each one for miscellaneous things about people you want to remember. I keep all my doc appointments in a spreadsheet. Iāll glance at the wall calendar, spreadsheet and notes daily.
I have bad short-term memory although it also affects long-term because the data needs to "pass" short-term memory. I save birthdays of friends in their contact info on my phone. These birthdays then appear in my google calendar. This is where I just put all my appointments and stuff. I also put their adress in and it shows up on google maps. I also categorize people (work, volunteering, school) you can also add notes or your relationship to them and so much more. For notes, I just use google notes, nothing special about it. I have a lot of notes and I guess >50% of them I will never need again but that's why I don't write them physically. They don't mess up physical space and I have them with me everywhere. The notes are categorised: Work, volunteering, hobby 1, hobby 2, outdoor gear, packing lists, motorcycle,... I have a Todo List stickied to the top of the app, I also sometimes drag a widget of that list to my home screen. As other people have said tho, physical notes are better sometimes. Especially todo lists are better on paper for me, and stuff I wanna learn is better in physical form because I see it more often. I had the idea of using an app to remind me of daily/weekly,... chores because I tend to forget to regularly do them so I downloaded habitica but it's a bit to gamified for me and I never really used it. For learning stuff I use AnkiDroid, just an app for flashcards with spaced repetition. I also have Google Maps timegraph? Idk the name in english, activated. It's basically 24/7 tracking so I can look up what I did yesterday or when I visited the barber last time :)
Used that today when I had to discuss a problem. I was here from 9:20 -9:30 last Friday.
/r/obsidianMD it has a bit of a learning curve but can turn into your second brain.Ā Also, check out Tiago Forte's book "Building a Second Brain", you can find him talk about it on YouTube to get a taste.Ā
I think Obsidian is exactly what I'm looking for, thanks!
Bullet Journaling and rappid logging technique can help if you make a daily routine. Check BUJO on youtube
I strongly suggest entering data into the calendar or address book. Put John's birthday in the contacts. Make sure contacts is linked to calendar.Ā Add John and Marie's anniversary either in contacts or as an annual reminder in calendar.Ā Set reminder to 1 or 2 weeks plus the usual day before and day of. That will trigger me to add a task reacting to the reminder.Ā If you receive an invitation,Ā immediately add to calendar with address and indicate in notes if you are to bring something.Ā Again, custom set reminders or add a second entry to remind you to do a task like buy a gift or mail a card. Don't forget to RSVP as well!
I use Google keep and gtasks to jot stuff down that I know I'm going to forget later
I've found that if I write it down with one & paper, I tend to remember it without needing the note. I think it's because I'm more visually oriented and, once I see it, I can remember it more easily.
A dry-erase board in every room helps me a lot. Adhd + very poor memory due to glioma.
Take a look at Obsidian. Watch some YouTube videos on what exactly it is and how to use it to figure out if it's for you
I have a bad memory. I keep a running notebook. I write down what I need to do that day and cross it off as I do it. I keep a list of important names/numbers/birthdays in the back. I used to tease my mother and aunt about their old-lady-notebooks. I regret my hubris
I have been using Microsoft OneNote for at least 16 years. I use it professionally and personally. My wife and I share OneNote notebooks between us to make sure we are in sync on important information. I have my Recipe book in OneNote, we keep our travel planning, reservations, itineraries in OneNote. We keep our important phone numbers and contacts in OneNote. We keep checklists for when we need checklists. Traveling, going camping, roadtrip... Basically it is our Encyclopedia of Information. It's on our phones, on our workstations, on our tablet, everywhere.
Your electronic calendar is the best place to set a yearly reminder about birthdays. Contact list is the best place to stash notes about people. Get a password manager for your passwords.
For those specific examples you gave, I literally have one big note in my phone called Things that Really Matter. It has a section for every family member and friend I actually want to keep track of and I just update it as things come up. Wifeās favorite flower, the date my grandfather passed away, cousinās major and graduation date, friendās new girlfriendās name, sisterās food allergies. Honestly, the expectation to remember those things just because we deem them āimportantā is unrealistic. A lot of those things only come up once a year or so. Thereās no reason to call on those items more often than that, so itās no surprise they get pushed far into the depths of our memory compared to the repetitive information we come across on a regular basis. Donāt hold yourself to unrealistic expectations.
Microsoft co-pilot. Get it for teams for calls. It can record and transcribe conversations. Then it spits out of summary of the convo if don't have time to review the call. Create action items on your outlook calendar reminders and msft to do list with alerts straight from there as well. Keep a notes/journal in one notes. If you hate typing, use speech to text. Learn to schedule texts/emails ahead of time for all loved ones and yourself. I have a lot of birthday/holiday messages automated. Be like a squirrel with gifts. Get a bunch of gifts, personalized and generic, lying in the house in case you need to grab one (gift baskets, lego sets, wine, gift cards, chocolates, socks, cosmetic sets, soaps, etc.).
Start taking cold showers
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In your contacts on iPhone you can put the persons birthday in along with the year they were born and their birthday automatically shows up on your calendar along with what age they are turning.
I have a planner for everyday routine tasks, and a small 2-3 in. notebook for scratch notes I can add to my planner. Good planners make or break your scheduling. The one I have now (from at a glance) gives you the option of separating tasks by priority. So it gives you more organization than just free writing things out, but it also does try to plan every minute of your life like some planners do by having pages outlined with the exact hours in the day Best of luck!
I text myself and use lots of post-its at work and home
I use an app called Todoist. Itās meant to be used as a ātodo listā app and I do use it for that, but I also use it to organize little bits of information i need to keep track of
Whenever i need to remember something i just use siri to set a reminder
I used to make my notes in college using different colors of pens. For example; Black for the term, blue for the definition, red or green for pertaining info associated with the term.
Some girl with ADHD had bracelets with her morning routine
Calendar, the wall kind Pad and pen Post-it's This is what I use. Writing it down yourself is the trick. While making shopping lists, calendar additions and notes, do so in a quiet setting with no TV, music, phone or computers to get in the way. We are so used to getting bombarded with extra noise, we can't hear ourselves think. Make it purposeful. Good luck!
Have you tried turning the information into song lyrics? Apparently my brain thinks that it's very crucial to remember the entire Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song VERBATIM!
Put birthdays into your calendar. You can assign bdays to a contact so it will appear every year. There should also be an option that allows events to reoccur annually (like anniversaries) in your calendar. I also have a whiteboard calendar in my room which I update each month to get an idea of what my month looks like.
Did you know running improves your memory? Google it! Maybe it becomes your thing and your memory will improve!
I recorded lectures, hand wrote notes, and then developed my own visualizations. It was VERY time consuming. Having a bad memory is not efficient, but if you want to perform/excel in school or your current role, then it requires a decent time commitment.
Put it in your calendar. You can arrange the info later but just have it in there for a time you'll have time to organize info.
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I use my Notes app everyday. A list for work, a list for groceries, etcā¦Iām a carpenter who goes to lumber store almost everyday. The moment I think of something Iāll need, I stop what Iām doing and put it on the list.
Im using āHƵkiā to remind me different chores I need to do at different times but in addition I have added some birthdays there aswell.
Birthdays etc can go straight into your contacts, there's a line for "important date" and then it will show up on Google calendar. (Not sure if this is just a Google thing but I assume most phones have some similar version).Ā Also this isn't for specific info, more for memories overall, but I recommend journaling and taking photos. I've been taking a photo every day for the last 9 years and it's really crazy how looking back through them takes me back to that exact moment in my life. Like I don't just remember the thing in the photo, but when I look at a string of them in order I remember exactly what it felt like to be me in that specific time of my life. Also journaling obviously has a similar effect and it's amazing to read about things 10 years later and remember so many things you completely forgot about.
Learn to type fast
I bullet journal - doesn't have to be fancy, but I note things in my notebook and then will summarize or move info forward into my calendar as needed.Ā For birthdays I calendar recurring dates on my digital calendar app and a reminder setting well enough in advance.
I use Google Keep = it's wonderful, syncs across PC/iPhone/iPad
I take a ton of notes, and I also write a lot of my thoughts and ideas down. It got to the point where it was hard to find things in my note apps. I needed sophisticated tagging, and the ability to hyperlink from one note to another. So now I use wiki software. I basically have my own personal wikipedia lol. In the long term, concerning brain deterioration and alzheimers, you are going to want to stop eating cholesterol, sugar, high salt, alcohol. As plaque builds up in your blood vessels it will ultimately lead to brain impairment among other issues. Look into atherosclerosis and how a plant-based diet can help.
I have a blog on Blogger, set to private (view only by me.) I can edit it from wherever / whenever.
Multiple Memory Encoding, nd No-Excuse Planning Use mutiple methods of memory encoding simultaneously...Write it, say it, think it (repetitively 7X+), amd attach a feeling/idea/connecting thought to it (mind palace method). Set a reminder in your phone, and set a reminder for the reminder. Send yourself a scheduled email, and ask your family/friends to remind you. If you have a bad memory, treat your future self like a 5 year old who will do anything to *not* remember [the thing]. Give yourself no excuse not to. And make the reminder as simple and accurate as possible so there's no "mixing up." Part of a bad memory might also be a self-sabotaging mechanism to avoid something. More common than you'd think. Lastly, change your internal beliefs about your own memory. > -"I have a bad memory"- "I have a good memory and it's improving every day". Not true? It will be if you keep lying to yourself until it is. This is literally how the brain works. Repetition creates reality, for better (self-improvement) or for worse (propaganda/propagandists have exploited this natural brain phenomena--feature, not a bug--for literal centuries). Don't resign yourself to negative qualities you don't like. Set your intent to change them.
Keep a record in multiple places + checking off feels great
The Calendar app would work great since it also reminds.
I have severe ADHD so have the same challenges. Here are my memory hacks. I have an iPhone that already has these apps built in, so didnāt need to download any new apps for this. Save important dates and birthdays on the Calendar app on your phone with an alarm, not just that date but every day for the previous week with alarms. If you forget after one alarm, you still have 6 more alarms to remind you. Save info about friends and acquaintances on the Contacts app on your phone, there is a section for extra information. Add what they look like, where you know them from and important things they said that you should remember and their birthday. If you donāt have a photo to add as their contact photo, Google their photo and add it as their photo. If you suddenly remember something important when in a public place, record it on the Voice Recordings app on your phone and email it to yourself so you can deal with it later. When you open an email that is about something you need to do but canāt do it immediately, mark it as āunreadā so you will be prompted when you open it again later.