My Reminder System
Tagged as: Mar 14Remembering something is usually a case of you did or you didn’t. I’ve often found it amusing for things like birthdays when people will say that they remembered, but they just didn’t say anything about it. Really…well that’s hard to imagine.
The thing is, some people have better memories than others. Everyone is different and is able to remember things in different ways. Laugh if you must, but I remember wanting a photographic memory like Cam Jansen when I was a kid. Then I could rapidly flip through books and not need to study! How wonderful that would have been! But alas, my dreams did not come true. Even now I often wish for a better memory.
But just as remembering something is pretty binary (i.e. you did or you didn’t), those of us lacking in the memory department have to make do with what we have. Otherwise we will be mocked. Who will mock, I do not know. All I know is that mocking will occur.
3 Memory Aids That I Use:
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Remember The Milk
(RTM for short)
Besides having a pretty amusing name, this is a website whose sole purpose is to create TODO lists. It’s refreshing for a website to be so singular in its purpose in this day of do-everything-until-we-take-over-your-life websites. In any case, I initially signed up for an account on the site, thought it was cool, and promptly did not hardly ever use it because visiting another site everyday wasn’t too practical.
But then they developed a Firefox extension that changed that up! They developed an extension for placing an RTM pane whenever a Gmail tab is opened! It maintains the overall look and feel of gmail so you (or at least I) don’t feel like it’s out of place at all. Since I much more often have a browser tab open for Gmail, I was much more able to use the service. And I have. And it’s great!
The concept is nothing new, you just put in due dates. But since it’s in front of my face at least once a day (since I check my e-mail once a day), it’s actually useful. And it’s on a remote server so I don’t need to worry about losing it or keeping different lists in sync.
So there are 2 ways to use this baby:
Either will do, just do.
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Phone calendar
Okay so I don’t have a smart phone. But that doesn’t mean that my phone is dumb! (Ha…ha…)
But almost all phones nowadays have some sort of calendar feature. And that’s fine and dandy for checking what the date is. But there is often also the ability to schedule events. So I use my phone (a Motorola, by the way) and put in reminders for certain things that I need to get done.
This is especially useful when I’m out and about. Often my phone is one of the few things that I’ll carry with me. I could actually text message a reminder to RTM which is cool. But I’ll be honest, I’m cheap when it comes to text messaging. And Verizon charges $.15 per message. For the amount of reminders that I put in for myself, that could get pricey. Haha laugh if you want, but the calendar reminders are free.
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Google Calendar
Calendars have been around for ages. The print versions are still quite popular and understandably so. But as computer usage becomes more and more prevalent, we are transferring much of the things that we do in tangible form to things that we can do through using the computer.
Personally I use the Google calendar, but really there are many such applications floating around. I figure that I already have a Gmail account, so why not. (Of course, this line of reasoning sounds that in my post Google’s Taking Over The World…And I Don’t Like It.)
Anyways, a nice feature of Google calendar is that I can have it e-mail me before the event occurs. I don’t use the application everyday, but awhile back I input all of my friends’ birthdays. Now it will e-mail me the day before someone’s birthday, so I’ll never egregiously forget a friend’s birthday!
Granted, it’d be better if I just remembered. It would show that I care more. It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that I don’t want to make a mistake! It’s my failsafe, if you will.
Do you have other tips for fellow forgetful fellows (or gals)?
I can barely remember my OWN birthday, much less anyone else’s. I have to work really hard at remembering my parents birthdays. My kids are sort of easy, because they start talking about it so far in advance. Same thing for my co-teacher.
None of those electronic things ever work for me. The email reminder stuff I can’t do, ’cause I mostly can’t use a computer during the weekday (if I spend too much time online, the preschoolers start spitting on each other & stuff). And any time I’m on the computer at home, my brain is already on vacation. I tried the phone thing once, but…I only got it to work one time. I just keep a paper calendar in my purse, write down EVERYTHING & then forget to look at it in time to do anything. :-0
Haha perhaps you could put in a little reminder for yourself for your own birthday? I’m not too great at birthdays either, hence the need for other reminders.
Yeah, since I’m in front of a computer every work day as well as at least once every day, the e-mail reminders actually help me. Is your phone difficult to use or is it more that you’re not really into using the “techie” devices?
I like your system with the paper calendar! Very nice.
I think that for me the only problem with paper calendars is how it easy it can be to misplace it. However there is the added convenience of not needing a computer to use it.
I used to be very good at recalling birthdays and phone numbers. Until I got a PDA! Once I entered in everything into my PDA, it freed up my brain or something. I have gotten more forgetful but I’m not sure if it has to do with my age or the fact that I have so much more to recall these days.
Overall though, my memory is actually pretty good and when it comes to people’s names, I try to use mnemonics or link their name to something that matches them in some way or is totally opposite or rhymes.
Do you think that it’s a good thing that you don’t have to remember things like birthdays and phone numbers anymore? Personally I think that while it is a good thing (wasn’t it Albert Einstein who said, “Why should I remember anything if I can just look it up?”), it also has to do with being out of practice. Sometimes when I’m doing things I’ll try to exercise my memory. For example when I’m driving I’ll sometimes try to remember a license plate just to see if I can. I think that after some practice, I’ve gotten better at it. (Don’t worry, I forget it once I stop trying. It’s definitely only the short term memory that gets exercised in this case.)
That’s pretty impressive that you have a good memory! What are some good examples of ways that you’re able to memorize names? Or is it too difficult to come up with examples? I definitely find that remembering a name of someone that I’ve just met is hard. Right after hearing their name, all too often the name is completely gone! I try to prevent this by repeating their name (as in, “it’s nice to meet you, —–”) but I don’t always remember to do that.
So in general, do you mainly use the PDA?
um…i TOTALLY remember cam jensen and LOVED her books! i really wanted to be like her too. i actually think i have a pretty good memory. i can do well with birthdays and names and even people’s faces. i’m the type of person that will see someone that i’ve met before and feel awkward because i know that i’ve met them before but am sure that they have NO CLUE who i am…what do you do? smile and say hi like you’ve met the before? ignore them? re-meet them? also, i have the annoying habit of having to remember something if i’m sure that i know it. for example, my friends forever are asking me those “remember that song from way back when…what was it called?” questions. they know that i will not stop thinking about it until i get the answer. then they are free to forget about it until i come up with it. yay to be me. it can be not fun to have a great memory.
I’d agree, I think that you’ve got a good memory. And I’m happy that you’ll keep at it until you remember. Haha now you can try to remember what it is that you said that you were going to tell me!
I also get into situations where I’ll remember someone, and they likely do not remember me. Usually I try not to make them feel uncomfortable about it, and I’ll pretend to meet them again. Or I’ll do the tentative, “Oh hi, I think that we met before.” That gives them an out if they don’t remember me. So what DO you do in those circumstances? Does it depend on the person?
oh my gosh!!! cam jansen! so AWESOME. i was not so secretly super jealous of her photographic memory. it was ridiculous how she could just say “click!” and suddenly she remembered the scene with photographic detail.
do you think one day i will get my wish to be like her?… because i think i have the opposite talent(read: curse). i go “click!” and my short term memory erases the most important or urgent information that i need.
watch it, cam jansen! i will sylar you when i find you!
Haha I had no idea that such a small reference would illicit such a response! Little did I know that Cam Jansen was loved so much.
And I’m pretty sure that you’re never going to be like her. I wouldn’t say that you have the opposite talent, but you’re far from having a photographic memory, my friend. Good thing you have an actual camera.
Why do you have to be Sylar and eat Cam Jansen’s brain?! Why can’t you be Peter Petrelli and let her live?? Evil, evil I say.