How do you remind yourself to do things?

Post Reply New Topic

I write giant notes and use a roll of masking tape kept on my bedside table to stick them to whatever needs attention. It's a good system, I instantly notice when something is different in a room so I always see the notes. They help me avoid crushing my window under the roller shutters and things like that.

If its important I set up a reminder on my iphone.

*Get people to remind me
*Coffee helps.
*Make him start a routine of always putting books and assignments in his bag. I'd forget to eat and do a lot of things without a routine.
I doubt a 13 year old has an iphone. And if he does oh what a lucky kid, but who pays the bill?
How about an alarm on his watch that goes off at the time he should put these books/assignments in his bag? Say 2:55pm? It depends when a school day is over. Or it it more complicated than that? Does he forget to bring back books/assignments from each class that are given to him at different parts of the day?
OK, how about as soon as he is given these things he puts them in his bag?

Does he look in his assignment book, and not see the note? Or does he forget to look in his book at all? If the second, then it doesn't matter how big the letters are. That second reason is why datebooks/organizers/assignment pads have never worked for me- because I never remember to check them. I'm looking into getting an iPod Touch so that I can set alarms for myself, and also have something with me at all times that I can jot quick notes down on (if I don't write things down as soon as I think of them, they are gone). I've tried many paper solutions with no luck, so I'm hoping there is an "app" out there that will be just what I need. An iPod Touch would be an expensive solution for a 13 year old, but I'm sure there are cheaper alternatives that would allow you to set alarms- like maybe an inexpensive Palm Pilot (or Palm Pilot-like device).

If you are looking for a low-tech solution, then maybe put a note on his backpack, or his lunchbox, or something that he will definitely see as he is leaving school- like "Check your assignment book!" For me, an effective note is one that I can't overlook- for instance I tape notes over the lock on my door- I have to physically move the note (and therefore notice it) in order to get out my door in the mornings. Could you rig up some kind of reminder on the zipper of his backpack maybe?

I've had to experiment in ways to remind myself.


Writing on a calendar or notepads help to some extent yet it's easy for me to overlook them. I have however found that anything that produces noise to be more helpful like cell phones, computers and anything or anything that vibrates if I'm in a situation where it is forbidden. Another element that grabs my attention are colors: Pink, blue, red, purples and even pictures depicting what I'm about to do. All those seem to get my attention quicker than letters and numbers written in drap ink or pencil.

Last edited by MissConstrue on 16 Jan 2010, 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well I tried writing things down, but then I forget to check them. Plus, it's a hassle, always having to write EVERYTHING I must do that day.
I'd often remember if the thought comes up or if someone else reminds me. But sometimes people end up constantly reminding me and that gets annoying.
So I came up with a new thing at school, like if I see someone holding a book, I remember about my book, and I think about where it is and try to rememeber where I put it, and if I remember putting it in my locker then I'm good. If I cant remember where I put something or if I forgot to do somehting I would just go to the first place I would put it (ie the locker) and usually I did put it there, I just didn't remember.

To go with what I've written down, (usually it's on my hand but it can be somewhere else too) I put the number of things I have to do in my head, so that one number is all I have to remember. Like I know there's 3 things I have to remember, and I don't do anything until I remember what all 3 of them are or find the note to myself.

It's really hard for me to remember things that I'm supposed to do & a lot of times I miss appointments because of it. Luckily, my vocational specialist knows how hard it is for me to know when things are, so she always gives me a reminder call. Sometimes even more than one.

I often just write down what I need to do and decide on whether or not I should do them...

More often than not, I just do things...

Great topic. I love all the tips.

One thing that helped me was to fix in my mind that if I walked through a door to think "keys, money, handkerchief".

Now I have too many items to remember like that so I carry all the critical items around in a small shoulder bag so that I can always carry the bag no matter what clothes I am wearing. It's a slight fashion liability but when I tell people I'll lose anything that isn't tied to me that seems to make it okay for them.

Don't worry. I never see things as liabilities --- I see them as points of uniqueness!

LOL at rabryst

Just to make you feel better:
A few years ago I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen since we were at school twenty years before. I lovely woman who was great fun. We arranged to meet for lunch the next day. My Outlook calendar beeped and I read the reminder. I went to the bathroom and fixed my hair and face, went downstairs, out the door, bought a sandwich and went back to my desk. When I finished my lunch I looked at my Outlook again and saw the reminder. I rang the woman and said sorry but we never met up again, even though she lives near me and she is polite when I see her.

But even worse:

Many years ago I went to work at a summer camp. I got there before most people and was helping set up. One of the men told me that his wife just had a baby. I congratulated him and we chatted about it. The next day all the other staff arrived. It was hectic. After a couple of weeks one of the women told me she was going out with this man, and how in love she was. I forgot all about the wife and baby and said something like "oh how lovely that you are so happy". It wasn't until the very end of camp, two months later, that she found out he was married and had a new baby. She was so horrified and she told me in floods of tears. I was so scundered.

I think that's my worst, but then I may have forgot something....

I'm bad a forgetting things but if I make things part of a routine then I'm less liable to forget. Every morning I pack my bag in the same order according to what's most important. I groom in the same order so I don't forget any steps also. This usually works for me without having to write things down or use an alarm setting in my phone. carrying objects around that remind me helps too though. Whenever I boil water, I carry around something from the kitchen (usually the package of whatever I'm about to cook lol) to remind me not to forget about it.

At work, we usually schedule meeting through Outlook. Once my boss asked me and a few other people to meet later that day, and didn't send me an Outlook invite. I missed it.

I apologized, and went on to tell him that I probably won't be able to turn up at a meeting unless I get an Outlook invite. He understood, dropped the verbal delayed meeting requests, and sends me Outlook invites without fail. A year and a half later, I still have a job.

Same as many people here, I put reminders in places where I can't fail to see them at the right time. I find it important not to place a reminder too long before the event, as a note tend to "become invisible" after I've seen and ignored it a few times.

Year planners only work for me when I've got enough things to put on them, because if I go through a quiet phase then I'll get out of the habit of looking at the planner. But during relatively busy times, they work well for me.

I haven't tried using the mobile phone planner yet. I used to use a watch that had multi-alarms but I became too nearsighted to be able to use it without the hassle of reading glasses (which I used to forget to carry). Also the bleep would often go off at awkward times and there wasn't a "snooze" option. The mobile sounds more likely to work, but after a lifetime of messing with gadgets, they bore me, and I find it difficult to mess with anything that doesn't fascinate me.

I have a lot of trouble knowing the limits of memory devices. I've tended to try and offload everything I might ever conceivably forget onto the device/system, in the hope that it will transform my life. All it did was to overcrowd the thing and make it harder to get the best out of it. It's hard for me to know what stuff is suitable for the device and what stuff is better remembered in other ways or just left to chance. By default, I try to do everything, and naturally I fail at that. But I think I'm learning.

Lucky you. I feel that you're lucky.

I wish I can have a supportive boss if I ever work. Because in Singapore...

'Missed a meeting? A foreign worker is waiting to fill your job. You're nothing but a burden. So scram off and you're fired!'