Tips for remembering

My week has been straight out busy and something important slipped my mind.  Can you imagine?  Of course you can, everybody can relate to being busy.

Am I in a panic?  No, not really.  I don’t share personal information often but… I’m not perfect. HAHA.

Seriously, though. We all make mistakes. Don’t we?

What do you do if you’ve made a mistake or forgotten something?  Many folks might…

·         Becoming overwhelmed and stressed out

·         Get embarrassed

·         Try to place blame elsewhere

·         Ignore the error

·         Apologize

·         Correct the error

·         Among other things

Most of the above reactions don’t show people in a positive responsible light.  In my opinion, the correct way to handle a mistake of forgetfulness is to address it, apologize, and correct the error if you can.  Of course, if your forgetfulness has caused a major emergency some more drastic steps may be necessary, but the basics remain the same.

However, we don’t want to become habitual offenders of forgetfulness. Here are some tips to help remember important things:

Things to be done:

·         Put it as a routine part of your schedule

·         Write it down, maybe in 2 places (wall calendar & phone)

·         Set an alarm or notification reminder

Dates to remember:

·         Write it down

·         Set a reminder a few days ahead

Giving a presentation:

·         Write it out first

·         Read it aloud, at least three times a day

·         Make a bullet point list of things you need to mention

·         Practice it aloud only using the bullet points

·         Be comfortable going off script (as long as the point is made, that’s okay)

·         If it’s timed, edit and practice until you are a couple minutes shy of your limit.

You’ll notice I encourage people to write things down. That encompasses two of the three major learning styles, tactile and visual.  If you say it while you write it, you’ll have covered all three by adding auditory.

Engaging your brain when trying to remember something is extremely helpful.

Remember… practice makes perfect (or almost perfect).