Serious time management and organisational problems

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My forgotfulness is starting to seriously impact on my life. Short term memory problems. I can always remember to do stuff but usually a few hours or days after they were due.

Part of the problem is that certain places are only open 9 to 5 on weekdays (like the post office for example) and I find it very difficult to fit them around work hours. It's like after work I have a narrow window of opportunity to do that stuff. If I forget on Friday afternoon I have to wait 3 days. More time to forget again.

Tuesday
Here's a recent example. On Tuesday afternoon I got a call from a friend saying he wanted to borrow my car for the evening to do his delivery job while his one is broken. On the way to the garage I saw the letter box hadn't been checked in ages.

One of the letters said I was overdue to send info for an insurance claim. So I got into a panic. I thought I needed some document wallets. Sometimes I get to focused on one small detail. So after lending my car I spent two hours walking to the office supply store so I could post the letter the next day.

Wednesday
Next day I brought all the documents to work so straight after I could walk to the post office in the city and post the letters. I had everything. Except one thing. Too late I realised I didn't have the letter from the insurance co saying the address to post the documents.

So after work I rushed home to get the letter, drove to the nearest post office, got lost because I recently moved to the other side of town and I don't really know this area, ended up in a Vietnamese supermarket, got accosted by middle-aged Vietnamese ladies, realised they weren't accosting me, it's just normal for them to shout everything they say, they shouted directions to the post office and I got there five minutes before closing time and then, I realised I still didn't have the letter letter from the insurance co saying the address to post the documents.

I walked slowly and sadly back to the car and drove back to my apartment. I felt so stupid. How can I be so stupid that I fail at a basic adult task like posting a letter? I was tempted to just jump off my 5th floor balcony.

Thursday
So I thought I could do it in my lunch break today. I don't normally like giving up my lunch half hour but I thought today I'd make an exception. I can't do it after work because I have to rush home to meet the couch repair guy who's also 9 to 5 on weekdays (just like everyone else (how do people who work 9 to 5 do things like get home before 5 to meet the couch repair guy?))

So this morning I realised I'd booked in for this optional work thingy they're holding in lunch break. It goes for an hour (probably longer) and we're supposed to make up the time because we get half an hour for lunch.

If I try to get out of it they'll say I shouldn't have signed up in the first place. If I don't ill be late for the couch repair guy and not make it to the post office until tomorrow (if not later). How can it take me a whole week to complete a simple task like going to the post office?

I was thinking of increasing my hours but then my free time during 9 to 5 will be zero. How do you guys with 9 to 5 jobs do other stuff that has to be done 9 to 5?

I always feel like I have to hold too many different things in my head at the same time. Successful people can do that. This is why I fear I will never be successful, never move past my own IT job because I can't handle more complex work. My problem I that I'm just not very smart.

My gf that I'm th smartest person she knows but I can't see it. Nearly everyone a work I smarter than me.

On Tuesday they we talking about which projects they wanted to sign up after for after our current project ends and it was stuff I hadn't even heard of let alone held the qualifications for.

I don't know how people do it with a 9-5 job. I think about that a lot... I could never handle a regular 9-5 job. I am so glad to be able to make my own hours, though I don't make nearly a full-time wage.

I do stuff like you describe above ALL THE TIME. I'm so scatterbrained and absent-minded. The *only* reason I am not incapacitated by it is because I can learn and execute really fast when I actually DO. But, keeping track of stuff is a real hindrance.

I do stuff quite slowly

I tend to work in stops and starts. I will go fast for a time and then slow for a time. At work I'm expected to work flat out continuously  without pause. That's what successful people do so why can't I?

My martial arts instructor disagrees. He holds a PhD in sports science and he says people can only concentrate for 90 minutes per day. I don't think my employers have heard of that idea.

Yeah, my prospective memory is pretty bad too. I can easily remember anything I see or imagine and I can memorize information easily, yet I can almost never remember to do my laundry and I always forget where I put things. Fortunately, there's an app for that. There is nothing wrong with using technology to do scheduling. My brother also has a terrible prospective memory and he uses his phone to help with scheduling. He will have a bachelors degree before he is old enough to drive, so I would definitely say that he is successful.

I use my phone too. I make lists, use the calendar, etc. But sometimes my memory isn't good enough for that. If I think of something to write down but I'm at work I have to remember it until I'm at Liberty to use my phone. If I write something down I have to remember to look at it. If I make many notes I have to remember which one is which.

If I get a calendar reminder for something not urgent and I'm in the middle of a task, I may delay it 'till I'm finished but then forget about it entirely.

I also have a lot of trouble with my on again of again studies. I find it difficult to schedule it around work. At this rate I'll have a bachelors degree before I'm old enough to retire.

What my brother does is he has a cloud synced todo list with a bunch of things ranked my priority. He is in the habit of checking it regularly. It may also be useful to just use a notepad so that you won't get in trouble for having it out.

I got home just in time to meet the couch repair guy. Only problem is I was locked out of my apartment.

I have to have something called "my brains on paper." IOW I have to write down to-do lists, place them on calendars, plus reminder notes.

I've been homeless for more than two hours and I hate it already. The battery on my phone is now below 40%

My girlfriend has a key to my apartment but she works evening. Of course since she works evenings I'll have to wait a while longer before I can get in.

It puts so much strain on our relationship that she's free in the daytime and I'm free in the evening.

That sounds really cool. Which app is that?

Is it available for BlackBerry? Can you also view it on a PC? I've been using Evernote a lot lately. It syncs to a cloud. Good thing too because when my computer was stolen I lost many documents but I still have the notes I took on Evernote. If only I'd put all my photos on a cloud instead of keeping them on the computer. I lost nearly every photo I've ever taken.

I also like the password keeper app. It also syncs to a cloud so if my phone ever gets destroyed I can still access the passwords. I had to do this a few months ago when I dropped my phone while drunk at a party. Unfortunately since it's a BlackBerry app the replacement phone also has to be a BlackBerry so I can retrieve the passwords.

I also like that my calendar reminders are displayed on my Pebble watch. It's a great organisational tool. Since I have to keep my phone on silent it's usually the only way I ever know someone has texted me or when someone is calling me.

TL;DR all anyway

I get someone else to do it