STEP FIVE: Strategy #4 - Adding Meaning

This next strategy is somewhat related to strategy # 3 in the previous post, in that they are both based on the importance of emotion for our memory. Information that is very important to us, or that has a lot of meaning to it typically has more intense emotion attached to it.
 
Most information we need to remember ...

​...already has important meaning associated with it. When we end up forgetting something, sometimes the reason was because we didn’t take a second or two to fully think through the meaning or importance of it. In that moment, we knew, intellectually, that it was important information, but we maybe didn’t allow our brains time to fully attach the emotion to the information itself. 

For example, as I write this I am visiting family for the holiday. Just an hour or so before writing this, my nephew called to speak with his mother. She was not available, so I agreed to have her call him upon her return. I am embarrassed to say that I forgot to do so. (This is pretty embarrassing. Now you see how bad my memory really is).

Take a few extra seconds to think through the meaning/importance of it. 

Obviously there was meaning and importance already attached to my nephew’s request. I certainly knew this was important, but didn’t actually take the time to think through why and how this was important. If I had actually taken a minute to think about that meaning, that importance, I would have been more likely to remember and follow through on the request. 

We can add meaning to information by imagining the consequences of forgetting. In this instance, I should have taken just a second to imagine the outcome of me forgetting to pass along my nephew’s message: his sadness that his mom was not returning his call; my guilt/shame when I eventually realized that I failed to follow through on something I agreed to do. 

Imagine the consequences
of forgetting
​that information. 

​Referring back to the example I used in the very first of these “Dealing with Forgetfulness” posts (the introduction): I forgot to return library books, at my wife’s kind request. I would have been less likely to forget if, at the time of her request, I had taken a few seconds to think through the importance. Again, I could have done this by thinking through the potential consequences of forgetting.
 
In that example, possible consequences of forgetting could have included being charged late fees for the books, my wife feeling ignored and dismissed, and me getting in trouble. I was quite fortunate in that none of those consequences became a reality. However, if I had thought through those potential consequences, then the emotion circuits of my brain would have viewed the library books with greater importance, which would have helped the memory circuits hold on to the information better, thereby reducing the likelihood of forgetting it. 

​Over the next week, when presented with something you need to remember, take a few seconds to acknowledge a few specific reasons why that information is important. Think through the potential consequences of forgetting that information. You might even try visualizing (recall strategy #1) yourself forgetting, and then visualize experiencing one or two negative or unpleasant consequences because of it.