STEP ONE

​Just the other day, my wife asked me to return a few books to the public library on my way to work the following morning. They were due back, and she would not have a chance to get there herself. I, of course, said “no problem,” with every intention of being helpful to her in this way. She then laid them on the corner of the table, where I would pass them as I headed for the door the next morning.
 
After work the next evening, ...

... I was sitting at that same table. I happened to glanced toward the corner where the books had been laid the night before, and then it hit me…I had forgotten the books. My wife was already well aware of my forgetful error. Earlier in the day she had discovered the forgotten books and found a way to take care of them. Being the saint that she is, she never said a word about it (which only added to my sense of guilt and remorse).
 
Forgetfulness is one of those experiences common to all human beings. Unfortunately, some of us (myself included) are more forgetful than others. When forgetfulness happens once every now and then, it is maybe no big deal. But when such things happen as a regular occurrence it can become quite frustrating, worrisome, stressful, and can even lead to relationship trouble.

Fortunately, however, we don’t have to just accept the current state of our memory and frequency of our forgetfulness. There are things we can do to improve it.

We don’t have to just accept
the current state of our memory 

In an earlier post, I discussed the importance of improving attention as a first step to improving memory. This is extremely important. If you have not read it already, check it out (Want to improve your memory? Start with your Attention). Then browse the posts that discuss in detail an effective strategy for strengthening attention (A Mindfulness Metaphor and Mindfulness exercise: picking the right weight), and begin practicing mindfulness for strengthening attention. The importance of this cannot be overstated. This first step will help increase the effectiveness of the strategies I will be discussing next.
 
In addition to strengthening attention, a variety of strategies can be used to help reduce forgetfulness. Many of these are the organizational approaches I referred to in the previous posts. Over the next few weeks, I will post a different strategy each week. For these strategies to be truly helpful, like most things, they need to be practiced repeatedly. When we practice these strategies regularly, they become more automatic, more natural, more of a habit, and therefore more effective.
 
After reading over a strategy, practice it daily. Practice it any chance you get throughout your normal day to day activities; be on the lookout for opportunities to practice it, or even make up reasons to practice it. Practice with information that you hear from family and friends, or with appointments, tasks on your to-do list, or with information you hear on the news. Again, the more you practice a strategy, the better it will work for you.
 
These strategies will be in no particular order, other than that I may try to start with simpler strategies, moving to more complex strategies later on. A number of the strategies can be combined for even better results (those that build on each other will be presented in the appropriate order). Some of these strategies may already be familiar to you, and may be things that you are already doing. However, I would encourage you to read through those anyway, as there may be additional details or tweaks to them that you may find useful for maximizing those familiar strategies.

The more you practice a strategy,
​the better it will work for you.

Before reading the first strategy, use the next week or so to begin strengthening your attention through daily mindfulness exercise (according to the posts linked above, especially the Mindfulness Metaphor post and the Mindfulness Exercise post). Also take note of any examples of forgetfulness that happen to you over the next week. Then post a comment below about your experiences with mindfulness and your examples of forgetfulness. Your comments will be most helpful for me, as I can then even tailor my posts to the needs of our readers; and your comments will be encouraging and helpful to each other. ​