Do you ever have those days where you realize Oh, crap! I forgot to ____________. And then, as you’re thinking about the consequences of that forgetfulness, suddenly your mind starts working through other things on random subconscious To Do lists. And, of course, you start remembering certain other things you maybe dropped the ball on recently that you had forgotten about until that very moment. Chances are none of these things are Top Priority or they would have made it on some familial calendar or something, but either way they are things you meant to do and didn’t. By the time the day is over you feel like total ass because you’ve left at least 42 people hanging in the last few weeks and you just realized it today. Does that ever happen to you?
Oh. Just me then? Ok.
(Brit, so sorry I totally spaced guest posting on your blog. Sarah, so sorry I forgot to get back to you about lunch yesterday.)
I try my best to stay organized but sometimes? 42 things fall through the cracks and it’s either because it’s in the form of an email I check on my phone somewhere away from a pad of paper or pen, or because one of my kids was screaming at that moment. Or because I had a little too much fun in my younger years and it’s coming back to haunt me. Either way, every few months I have a day where it occurs to me that maybe I need a new system of organization. Or a new memory technique. Or possibly a spare brain to hold in the reserves somewhere on the days where I’m really spaced out and forgetful.
A lot of my recent bought of forgetfullness can be blamed on my stupid iPhone. (You’re not stupid! I love you!) It gives me the ability to check my email in line at the grocery store, or when I’m waiting to pick up LilZ from rehearsal, or even while trying on clothes at the mall. This is awesome in that I can stay in contact with the world during random bits of free time throughout the day. This is NOT awesome because if it’s an email I need to make a special note about, or remember to respond to, it gets filed in my brain somewhere at that moment for later. This temporary filing system is not as good as the one I use when sitting at my desk. My brain is ready for mental notes then. When I’m looking for soups at Publix and I get an email about something I need to remember later? I will probably only actually remember it the next time I got to get that soup out of my pantry.
Other times I can simply blame it on your general forgetfulness. I remind myself, You’re much better than you used to be! And I am. But still – not awesome. Forgetting something is not as rare as I’d like it to be. I know – as mothers – we all tend to have a lot on our plates. Rehearsal schedules, auditions, soccer games, playdates, permission slips, crafts supplies for school, and most importantly: movie premieres. And the big stuff that relates to other people in my family – those things always get a higher priority on my THINGS TO REMEMBER list. I only seem to forget the stuff that is personal to me. Which is awesome for my family, but makes me kinda want to punch myself in the face.
So – how do you do it? How do you remember deadlines for work, training schedules, fundraising deadlines and lunch dates? I don’t think I’m doing Too Much, because I still have plenty of time to goof off throughout the day. I just think I’m needing a better way to Remember. Maybe I should try to “Keep As UnRead” emails I see important on my phone so that I’ll read them again at my desk. (Can I even do that on my phone?) Maybe I should try to say things out loud when they first pop into my head. I swear that would help except for when I’m too embarrassed to say, “Reschedule gynecological exam!” in the waiting room of the service department at my dealership. (Although I’m certain to remember to do it!) Do you carry a pen and paper To Do list everywhere? Sometimes I feel like that’s the keep. The phone is great for many things but I’ve not felt like keeping To Do lists on it yet. I’m still better with pen and paper there. Do you leave yourself voicemails? Do you just do things immediately? I often think that would solve the majority of my problems if I would just do things at the moment they occur to me (when possible) but often I don’t feel like it. WAH!
Or maybe I should just have a disclaimer tattooed to my forehead. Hi! I’m forgetful! Be forewarned!
At family dinner last Sunday. Post-dinner naptime.
Hi! I mark emails as unread so I’ll re-read them later. My phone (blackberry) let’s you do that my right-clicking on the message and choosing “mark as unread”. That is the only thing I do. I’m never around a pad and paper and would probably hare that anyway. Good luck!
Two things:
One, the Uncalendar – http://www.uncalendar.com
Two, crippling paranoia and mental disaster scenarios. Like “If I forget to do this, then that will happen, then that, then that, then that, then the dog will be BALD and everyone will laugh at him!”
Sounds like you need a combination of Remember the Milk (I adore the iPhone app) and potentially GTD. But Remember the Milk would probably be huge for you. http://www.rememberthemilk.com
Good luck!
I use two calendars (one wall, one desk) and the MS Office calendar on my laptop. I set reminders for things that must be done and ruthlessly refuse to delete them until I finish the task.
One reminder form this week told me my task was 124 days overdue!
I mark emails as unread until I deal with them.
I forgot to pack my daughter’s bag lunch for her school trip last week. Her first school trip EVER. And then, two days later, I completely forgot that she had ballet. That’s she’s had the same night every week for three years.
I recently forgot my rent was due. I had the money…I just forgot to write the check.
I’m pregnant, so that could be it. But I don’t think so. I think it’s just mommy brain.
And if that pic isn’t the posted child for larger families, I don’t know what is. You just made me smile about the fact that I’m having a third kid.
Poster child. Not posted child.
See? *sigh*
Hey! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now-thought I’d delurk to comment and tell you how much I like your posts.
For me, because I don’t want to carry a dayplanner, calendar, notepad, AND iphone. I just use the hell out of the notepad and calendar alert features on my phone. I stopped thinking of the calendar as a way to program birthdays, and started making events out of paying bills, calling the insurance company, etc. etc. I keep a streaming grocery list in the notes application, too.
I have the same problem with my iPhone, so I make sure that my settings have it so that email isn’t taken off the server when checked via the phone vs. desktop computer. That way I still get the email again when I sit down at my desk. Then, if it’s worthless I know to delete it, but if not I have a record available where I can act on it.
i forget everything lately, all the time. have taken to writing messages on back of my hands, which works til i wash them 2 or 3 times. haha.
best picture ever, thanks for the smile.
I’m a slave to Outlook. Also helpful? http://www.listography.com/
I had the same problem, then I started using the calendar on my phone (I have a BlackBerry, not an iPhone), and setting alerts WAY in advance. If I have an appointment on Tuesday, I set the alert for Sunday, then reset it for Monday, then again for about an hour ahead of the appointment on Tuesday. That way I’m not getting a reminder 15 min. before something needs to be done and going “Oh, crap, I’ll never make it on time!!” I also have a List Maker app that I use all the time, or I will quickly type something into notes, then I check these things at home when I get the time.
Strangely enough, I’m trying to wrangle my To Do list right now, like right at this very moment — or, rather, right after I stop getting distracted by my feed reader and click back to my new favorite website: Toodledo.
Toodledo has an iphone app that syncs with the full website, it syncs with google calendar, and you can email your to dos to it.
So, in your case, you could just hit forward on an email from the soup aisle, and voila! It’s on your to do list, which will be on your calendar and on your iphone and on the internet … it will be everywhere! And there’s lots of reminder, alarm, priority, folder, etc. settings to play with.
I am going to will myself to use this thing and get my life in order. I have no choice. My world will crumble if I don’t get. it. together. now.
I bought myself a huge old whiteboard and try to keep a tasklist on that board. That way it is up there and in my face. Then I would take things from the phone, or email, or whenever I remembered, and then add it to the board. It’s what has worked for me. Especially for things that I know that I’m going to forget that are outside the normal routine.
I don’t move the email out of my inbox until its properly noted on the calendar (and even non-events go on the calendar, as a reminder to get it done), and then once it is it goes out of the inbox and in to a folder. Or deleted. That way, it doesn’t matter whether its read or not.
I need to see my appts on paper so I carry a calendar in my purse and write it down immediately when I become aware of something. I make a point to review the calendar every morning when I am having my coffee so I can remember where I am supposed to be. I put everything on it, even things like guitar lessons for my son that he has been going to for years or I will forget. Seeing it in black and white on paper is a comfort to me, just like I have to use the old fashioned check register (which makes my hubby nuts!)
That picture makes my insides go all squishy and awwww
Aren’t post-dinner naps the best? Love the photo! I am so excited I squee when I think about the NM premiere, exactly a week and six hours from now!
Are you going to the Monaco? Do you have other folks going with you? Email me!
Oh…and for the phone….can you star your gmail mail that you want to get back to later? You might be able to remember to check your starred mail at regular intervals. I wouldn’t know, because my phone doesn’t have ‘real’ mobile web.
oh man, you totally ratted yourself out. I owe you big time….so one little slip….I totally um, forgot?
I recently got the Palm Pre (love. it.) and have started using Evernote (www.evernote.com) to help keep myself organized. It’s amazing – it syncs between the phone and my laptop, so I always have an up-to-date version of my notes, and I’m finding a ton of ways to use it. You can clip screen captures and save them, drop in files that you might need later (like travel confirmations etc.), send photos to your evernote notebook (see a Christmas gift you don’t want to forget about? Take a photo and save it!). I’ve been converted