How to Remember Things
Memory is an area of particular challenge for those of us with ADHD. If it is not an area of high interest, there is little chance of it sticking in our memory. We must, therefore, come up with unique strategies to help us remember the things we are supposed to remember.
Make It External
It has been said that the ADHD brain lacks the interior memory filing cabinets needed to remember all of the things one needs to remember. The best way to counteract this is to create external filing cabinets. That could mean writing it down or storing it in your phone’s note-taking app. That could also mean finding a unique way of externalizing it. For example, what I do to remember to take my medication in the morning is to set out my medication before I go to bed. That way, I can see it when I go into the bathroom in the morning to put my contacts in, brush my teeth, and take care of other morning necessities. Sometimes, I cannot remember if I have taken my medication or not in the morning, so what I do is, when I set it out before bed, I flip the bottle upside down. When I take it in the morning, I flip it right side up. This enables me to know whether or not I have taken it by looking at the position of the bottle. That is just one or two example(s) of how I externalize my memory. What can you do to externalize your memory?
Be SMART
One thing we have in abundance in our society is our smart devices. We can use these devices to remember all of the things we would otherwise forget. For example, you can set a reminder on your smart speaker to alert you to look at your planner before bedtime (or whenever you decide you want to look at it). We are lucky to live in a world where our watches, phones, and speakers can help us remember what we need to remember. I think we underutilize those devices.
Be Silly or Unique
One way to remember something is to associate it with something crazy that you won’t forget. If you constantly forget whether or not you have locked the front door, do something to help you remember that you have locked it. Perhaps, you could squawk like a parrot after locking the door. The oddness of the squawk will help you remember that you have locked the door. This is a chance to get creative with your routines. Instead of doing everything the same way every time, you can mix it up to help you remember that you have done what you needed to do. Moreover, a silly way of saying something can help you remember how to spell it. I cannot be the only one out there who remembers how to spell the word beautiful because of the movie Bruce Almighty. Get silly with your memory! Everything (even school) will be more fun if you try to remember things in a fun way. What can you do to remember all the things you need to remember?
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