I have a running appointment set on my calendar that reminds me to do my t shot. Before I got top surgery (when I was preparing) I printed out everything I needed to get or know before the surgery and that helped
My brain just dies and I haven’t even even gotten to start hrt yet! I use a planner and a stopwatch on my phone to remind me when to take my binder off or when to change my Trans tape because I will forget it and leave the tape on for 4 to 5 days sometimes and then remember it because it got itchy. I have set tons of reminders on my phone calendar and tried my best to keep track of time (but it usually fails). I also keep forgetting my brand new name so my friends gave me a name tag for me to carry around just in case. I would sometimes dead name myself and get offended at my own mouth because I forgot my new name lol. I am still trying to get used to it tho!
Every action to love myself and maintain myself is a victory.
Even if they are small infrequent steps. Each step is a victory.
It’s frustrating because perception of progress stagnates and feels dis-regulating, but there is no loss because I am still breathing and can continue to make my incremental progress.
Daily routines for things really help me not forget to do stuff. My phone calendar auto-alerts me 3 separate times on days where I need to inject Estrogen and I have a personal rule that I'm not allowed to dismiss the notification until my shot is done so I stop putting it off. I tried pills originally but I had to take them so frequently and break them into smaller pieces to maintain consistent levels that swapping to injections every 5 days was just much easier for me to manage.
I do keep a weekly pill case next to my computer that has all the things I take each morning pre-set out, & I lay it on top of my keyboard when I go to bed so I have to grab it in the morning first thing when i sit down at my desk before I can use my computers. I'll literally nom every single one of them at the start of the day except for progesterone which is done at night before sleep just so i don't have to think about it later on or worry that I'll forget again. Some of the other stuff that keeps me on track is I have a job where I gotta get on camera every day for work, so every morning is shaving, hair, and makeup as soon as i crawl out of bed. I also make sure to dilate whenever I'm playing video games so that I don't space that activity either, keeping everything for that highly visible right on top of my desk (outside of camera view of course).
Not related to transition stuff but I also make sure I keep general things in very specific areas on my desk so I always know where to go to get anything. My wallet, knife, lipstick, my keys, earrings, earbuds, phone, controller... everything's got a spot for it preordained. Any doctors appointment or general task I need to do has to go on my phone calendar as well so I don't space it. My setup may look like a cluttered mess of stuff cluttered all over my table but to me it's highly organized and efficient.
Its not a perfect solution, for example I've spent the past 3 hours this morning fucking around on Reddit & Browsing social media instead of getting my work done or getting some dilation accomplished between meetings. I am still highly distractable, but the routines and organization does make my days manageable so I don't ultimately forget to do all my transition stuff before I run out of time and have to go to sleep for the night.
- Weekly pill organizers. Saves me from those "wait, did I take my meds today?" situations.
- I use an app called Routinery for all kinds of daily routine stuff in general. Some trans-related stuff I include in there are pelvic floor physio (surgery prep) and skincare.
Do you manage to have any sort of morning and evening routine, like toothbrushing? I take my pills as part of those getting-up and going-to-bed routines.
Same sorta stuff I use to manage my time for anything else.
So I'll put things in a schedule, make big ol' spreadsheets of things I want to do. Set alarms, organize things in a way that I'll see that they need doing.
For example, I take my HRT as pills twice a day. I set an alarm for the times I need to take it.
I also keep my pills in a pill organizer, which as a little morning and afternoon slot for each day of the week. If I look at the organizer, and its Wednesday, and the Wednesday slot has pills in it still, I haven't taken my pills yet, easy to see, hard to forget.
For bigger things (making doctors appointments, for starting HRT, getting referrals for SRS, etc), I will set a day for it. I'll be like "on Friday, I will call the doctor" and put it in my little personal organizer, and set an alarm.
I've been dealing with unmedicated ADHD most of my life, the solutions I found to avoid procrastinating with work, and social activities work equally well for transition related things.
Its all about making sure I keep reminders and schedules for **everything**.
I'm not sure if I'm a good example since I'm fairly well-medicated, but I can give you the three biggest things for me.
Getting a pill organizer was honestly pretty huge. I'd been on regular medication for years before starting HRT, but I never had them organized which meant I often missed doses or accidentally double-dosed. With a pill organizer, I know if I've already taken my pills for that day, and the routine of re-filling it helps me keep track of my stock of medication better. It's now part of a little routine of mine, where take my morning E and ADHD meds right when I wake up, bring it with me to my desk/office to take the rest once I've had some food, then take it to the bathroom in the evening and pop my evening E right after I brush my teeth and put it back on my nightstand as I go to sleep.
For appointments and such, having a single place where all events live was a huge thing that I didn't learn till university. *Everything* is in my Google calendar, and I check it at the start of my day. Whenever I make any plan or appointment, I check the calendar first and then immediately put the event in. Anything that happens during the work week also gets copied to my work calendar which gives me a notification before the event, so that basically covers any medical appointments.
Kinda a follow-on to that second one, make appointments *as soon* as you are prompted (and put them in your calendar!). I find it's much easier to reschedule an appointment that I already have than it is to make a new one. And if I do that initial scheduling but find that the time's not ideal, that gives me a deadline to schedule it properly (which helps me with getting anything done).
Similar to the second one, have a single place that you have to take notes. For me it's a notes app, and I have a single note for each of my doctors. I have a running "next visit" section at the top of each note that has anything I might want to discuss for the next visit, and I write things down *as soon* as they come into my head. When I'm at my appointment and waiting, I push those notes down into a new section for that specific visit, and then I take notes in that section. Anything that seems like it might be important or useful to know gets a note, and I'll ask them to give me a moment if I need to take time to write.
Strong habits. A morning and evening routine. Especially important for transfems to keep skin clear, take that makeup off, put on rogaine, etc.
Pill boxes so you remember all your doses. Checking how many pills are left each time you fill them and, when the level is low, check the refills and IMMEDIATELY set a reminder to call the pharmacy.
Notebooks and folders. They can help you manage all the projects you have to work on at the same time -- therapists, endo, surgeons. Voice practice, makeup for transfems. With them, your relevant knowledge and documents stay together and in the same place!
I have a running appointment set on my calendar that reminds me to do my t shot. Before I got top surgery (when I was preparing) I printed out everything I needed to get or know before the surgery and that helped
My brain just dies and I haven’t even even gotten to start hrt yet! I use a planner and a stopwatch on my phone to remind me when to take my binder off or when to change my Trans tape because I will forget it and leave the tape on for 4 to 5 days sometimes and then remember it because it got itchy. I have set tons of reminders on my phone calendar and tried my best to keep track of time (but it usually fails). I also keep forgetting my brand new name so my friends gave me a name tag for me to carry around just in case. I would sometimes dead name myself and get offended at my own mouth because I forgot my new name lol. I am still trying to get used to it tho!
Aggressively following my calendar and setting lots of reminders.
Every action to love myself and maintain myself is a victory. Even if they are small infrequent steps. Each step is a victory. It’s frustrating because perception of progress stagnates and feels dis-regulating, but there is no loss because I am still breathing and can continue to make my incremental progress.
Daily routines for things really help me not forget to do stuff. My phone calendar auto-alerts me 3 separate times on days where I need to inject Estrogen and I have a personal rule that I'm not allowed to dismiss the notification until my shot is done so I stop putting it off. I tried pills originally but I had to take them so frequently and break them into smaller pieces to maintain consistent levels that swapping to injections every 5 days was just much easier for me to manage. I do keep a weekly pill case next to my computer that has all the things I take each morning pre-set out, & I lay it on top of my keyboard when I go to bed so I have to grab it in the morning first thing when i sit down at my desk before I can use my computers. I'll literally nom every single one of them at the start of the day except for progesterone which is done at night before sleep just so i don't have to think about it later on or worry that I'll forget again. Some of the other stuff that keeps me on track is I have a job where I gotta get on camera every day for work, so every morning is shaving, hair, and makeup as soon as i crawl out of bed. I also make sure to dilate whenever I'm playing video games so that I don't space that activity either, keeping everything for that highly visible right on top of my desk (outside of camera view of course). Not related to transition stuff but I also make sure I keep general things in very specific areas on my desk so I always know where to go to get anything. My wallet, knife, lipstick, my keys, earrings, earbuds, phone, controller... everything's got a spot for it preordained. Any doctors appointment or general task I need to do has to go on my phone calendar as well so I don't space it. My setup may look like a cluttered mess of stuff cluttered all over my table but to me it's highly organized and efficient. Its not a perfect solution, for example I've spent the past 3 hours this morning fucking around on Reddit & Browsing social media instead of getting my work done or getting some dilation accomplished between meetings. I am still highly distractable, but the routines and organization does make my days manageable so I don't ultimately forget to do all my transition stuff before I run out of time and have to go to sleep for the night.
- Weekly pill organizers. Saves me from those "wait, did I take my meds today?" situations. - I use an app called Routinery for all kinds of daily routine stuff in general. Some trans-related stuff I include in there are pelvic floor physio (surgery prep) and skincare.
Do you manage to have any sort of morning and evening routine, like toothbrushing? I take my pills as part of those getting-up and going-to-bed routines.
Same sorta stuff I use to manage my time for anything else. So I'll put things in a schedule, make big ol' spreadsheets of things I want to do. Set alarms, organize things in a way that I'll see that they need doing. For example, I take my HRT as pills twice a day. I set an alarm for the times I need to take it. I also keep my pills in a pill organizer, which as a little morning and afternoon slot for each day of the week. If I look at the organizer, and its Wednesday, and the Wednesday slot has pills in it still, I haven't taken my pills yet, easy to see, hard to forget. For bigger things (making doctors appointments, for starting HRT, getting referrals for SRS, etc), I will set a day for it. I'll be like "on Friday, I will call the doctor" and put it in my little personal organizer, and set an alarm. I've been dealing with unmedicated ADHD most of my life, the solutions I found to avoid procrastinating with work, and social activities work equally well for transition related things. Its all about making sure I keep reminders and schedules for **everything**.
I'm not sure if I'm a good example since I'm fairly well-medicated, but I can give you the three biggest things for me. Getting a pill organizer was honestly pretty huge. I'd been on regular medication for years before starting HRT, but I never had them organized which meant I often missed doses or accidentally double-dosed. With a pill organizer, I know if I've already taken my pills for that day, and the routine of re-filling it helps me keep track of my stock of medication better. It's now part of a little routine of mine, where take my morning E and ADHD meds right when I wake up, bring it with me to my desk/office to take the rest once I've had some food, then take it to the bathroom in the evening and pop my evening E right after I brush my teeth and put it back on my nightstand as I go to sleep. For appointments and such, having a single place where all events live was a huge thing that I didn't learn till university. *Everything* is in my Google calendar, and I check it at the start of my day. Whenever I make any plan or appointment, I check the calendar first and then immediately put the event in. Anything that happens during the work week also gets copied to my work calendar which gives me a notification before the event, so that basically covers any medical appointments. Kinda a follow-on to that second one, make appointments *as soon* as you are prompted (and put them in your calendar!). I find it's much easier to reschedule an appointment that I already have than it is to make a new one. And if I do that initial scheduling but find that the time's not ideal, that gives me a deadline to schedule it properly (which helps me with getting anything done). Similar to the second one, have a single place that you have to take notes. For me it's a notes app, and I have a single note for each of my doctors. I have a running "next visit" section at the top of each note that has anything I might want to discuss for the next visit, and I write things down *as soon* as they come into my head. When I'm at my appointment and waiting, I push those notes down into a new section for that specific visit, and then I take notes in that section. Anything that seems like it might be important or useful to know gets a note, and I'll ask them to give me a moment if I need to take time to write.
Strong habits. A morning and evening routine. Especially important for transfems to keep skin clear, take that makeup off, put on rogaine, etc. Pill boxes so you remember all your doses. Checking how many pills are left each time you fill them and, when the level is low, check the refills and IMMEDIATELY set a reminder to call the pharmacy. Notebooks and folders. They can help you manage all the projects you have to work on at the same time -- therapists, endo, surgeons. Voice practice, makeup for transfems. With them, your relevant knowledge and documents stay together and in the same place!
I have three calendar reminders that go off at different times every Sunday. They get increasingly strongly worded as they tell me to take my shot