How to Remember Things Easily
When it comes to methods of how to to remember things, there's plenty of good advice out there for the big stuff, but I find I want to remember the little things. The annoying little things I forget about. Just the minutae of life - like a new TV series starting, that I forget and miss. Or the date of a local event or market, that passes by without me noticing.
I'd like a nudge to things I might do, things I could do, things I might want - but without putting them into any formal wall planner or making them so "public".
Well, I've found a way to remember things easily - and I've been using the system for over a month now successfully. It all started when I was bought a Week per View diary for Xmas that I really didn't want. I'd already bought myself a wall calendar and thought I had no use for this A5 Week per View diary, then it struck me. I could use it for all those bits and bobs I discover, then forget! And straight away my new system was born.
I can look at a couple of shops' websites and see what offers they've got coming up in the next two weeks, then make a note of what I might like to buy on the particular days they have those offers (e.g. Lidl and Aldi are typical for doing these short offers 1-2 weeks in advance). Or there's the date the local car boot sale, that is only once a month and in the summer, starts. I've even scribbled down when I should start looking to do things, e.g. to look for somebody's present, or to post a gift off so it arrives in time for a birthday. The diary just holds together all those loose events, ideas, nudges, reminders and random finds in a structured, but informal, way.
I've also put reminders in, reminders to pay my council tax and to do my tax return - even when the car tax is due.
The diary is beside me all the time - as soon as I discover something that I might want to go to - a local food festival, a beach cleaning day, a Xmas market - in it goes. In pencil. And as it's week per view it's just a permanent reminder, easily flickable, for things I need to not forget about! Remembering things, for me, was never so easy.
Some of the things I write down, I am not interested in when the date comes round - but it's been handy for not missing new TV series I'd seen advertised 2-3 weeks before they started. It's also been invaluable in nudging me when a Lidl product I was interested in was available, even though on that day I then chose not to go and buy one.
The diary's filling up with a note here and a note there. There's usually 1-2 items per day I don't want to forget about. So there's no more forgetting things from now on! It's just within reach, with a pencil keeping my place.... all ready to be used.
An A5 Week per View is the perfect size so it doesn't get lost, it's easy to be able to see the coming 1-2 weeks and there's space to scribble down a few reminders for each day. Any smaller and it'd be too small to be useful and used - any larger and it'd become overbearing and unwelcoming!
It's easy - it's cheap - and it works for me! Maybe it can work for you too.
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Image Credit » CC0 Public Domain, free for commercial use. http://pixabay.com/en/diary-journal-book-ink-pen-paper-92652/
Comments
valmnz wrote on February 5, 2015, 1:50 PM
That does sound like a good idea and manageable too. I've started using my phone in a similar way, but your idea sounds more extensive
Koalemos wrote on February 5, 2015, 2:04 PM
I find my mobile phone quite useful because I simply set a reminder.
WorDazza wrote on February 5, 2015, 2:49 PM
I would take you advice but I suspect I would forget where I put the damn thing.
crowntower wrote on February 5, 2015, 2:53 PM
I think you had think of a cool way to remind yourself of things that you should not forget. Anyway, I also have a planner where I used to write down what should I do and program it on my cell phone calendar. God bless.
trufflehunter wrote on February 5, 2015, 6:43 PM
I used to have a physical appointment book which I'd forget to bring around.
bestwriter wrote on February 5, 2015, 7:50 PM
What if one forgets to look at the diary )lol)
And do you forget milk on the gas - that is my biggest absent mindedness.
celticeagle wrote on February 5, 2015, 9:23 PM
Hey, if it works for you it's a great find. I used to journal a lot but not anymore. Not sure why I quit. Maybe I forgot. LOL
jiangliu1949 wrote on February 6, 2015, 6:56 AM
I share your views。I usually write down what I need to do，though I am not the type of person who has a memory like a sieve .Here there is a saying "no memory can compare with a bad pen ."
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:48 AM
I like the way I can use the diary to just brain dump vague ideas, thoughts and maybes - without it cluttering up a formal wall planner with real life things on it. Important things. As for a phone, you have to remember to check, with a diary in front of you, on the side table, with a pencil always with it, it just works for me
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:49 AM
The diary isn't for appointments etc, just for ideas. And, with it being written down in a week per view diary I can easily see what's going to come soon.
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:49 AM
I just have it always here, beside the PC, beside the sofa, by me.
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:51 AM
I just leave this here, where I sit all the time, it doesn't travel with me - it's for stuff I spot on the telly, or online - or just things I randomly think of. e.g. this morning I've written down, for next week, "find hairdresser prices". It's not essential, it's got no specific day, so sometime next week I'll spot that and start phoning round. Non specific items that I want to do, might want to buy, or see, etc.
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:52 AM
It's sitting here, open, all the time, on the side table, with a pencil in it. So I can glance at it, or grab the pencil to write things down. TV adverts for new TV series starting is a common one I forget about until I've missed them.
UK_Writer wrote on February 6, 2015, 8:54 AM
I've never had an open diary sitting here and never found a system that worked for me. Glad I found this way of remembering things easily. Just the silly, little stuff.
1Paulie wrote on February 7, 2015, 2:52 AM
I have something like the A5 Week to view on my smart phone but I don't use it. I guess I really should. What is a car tax? We have car registration and car insurance in the States, but no car tax. Is it the same as car registration in the States?
UK_Writer wrote on February 7, 2015, 9:37 AM
On a Smartphone you have to remember to look, it's also no longer A5 (which is a specific size). Car tax is UK road fund license - if you have a car on the road you have to pay a tax for that, based on the carbon emissions (how green is it). It used to be a flat rate, then they changed it so that bigger cars paid more - each year you have an annual MoT test to test a car for roadworthiness and part of that tests the exhaust emissions (they stick a probe up the exhaust pipe). The car tax is based on the published chart for your car model, so you can check how much car tax would be payable before you buy a car. It's all more complex these days than it used to be. Too hard for me to try to explain it here :)
luisga814 wrote on February 10, 2015, 11:09 PM
I do have my planner notebook in order to remember.
allen0187 wrote on February 12, 2015, 12:15 AM
For things to remember, I write a reminder in my mobile phone. I do keep a journal handy with me at all times. I write down my ideas and thoughts for future posts. Perhaps, I should turn the journal into a reminder as well.