“Do you regularly use the phrase I Forgot?”

Remembering things can be one of the most difficult things we are challenged with on a daily basis. It can be as simple as taking out the trash or it could be as significant as paying the mortgage. Remembering to do the important things in life can be critical to a happy life and when we don’t remember we can certainly cause unnecessary strife for ourselves and others. Using the excuse that we forgot or what I call the “F” word does not go over very well when we have missed something important. Saying I forget is just as bad as a cuss word because not too many people receive it well or they are put off by it. The negative effects of forgetting can be bad on relationships, at work, managing your bills, health and so many other aspects of our lives that we should look to minimize the number of times we use the “F” bomb. Men get into hot water when they fail to remember an important date to their significant other, e.g. anniversary or birthday. How successful are you at work if you regularly forget to do something important or miss a deadline because you forgot. Bill collectors are not very lenient when we are late with making a payment, many charge late fees and are unlikely to wave the fee if we simply forgot. How many of our loved ones are reliant on medications to keep them in good health and when they are under the weather we often realize they forgot to take their medication. How can we be better and remembering?

Our brains are better suited for making decisions and being creative, not so much on remembering deadlines and dates especially as we get older. Many people resort to lists, white boards on their refrigerators, sticky notes and other techniques. An old method of remembering something is tying a string around our finger; hopefully we don’t forget why we put the string on our finger! We live in an age that is driven by technology and the vast majority of us have smart phones that we depend on every waking moment. Now our kids have access to technology and smarts phones before they are old enough to drive. If we are not using smart phones which are more advanced than the computers were 15 or 20 years ago, we really are subjecting ourselves to unneeded agony. Our smart phones have calendars that can be used to setup reminders and the only way we should forget something is if we fail to setup a reminder or we dismiss the reminder without taking any action. As our “to do” list accumulates, take a moment and set a reminder so we are more reliable to ourselves and those that depend on us at home, as friends, and at work. Paying that bill before it’s too late or remembering that important date can go a long way towards making us or someone else happier than if we say “I Forgot”.