Thing #8

Thing #8. Use your cell phone for personal reminders.

This is really a tip from my hubby. For years, Doug has put reminders in his cell phone using the calendar feature—doctor’s appointments, people’s birthdays, . . . .  He’d say, “I put it in my phone” so often that it almost became annoying. But then I tried it. I wanted to remember to put the trash out every Wednesday, so I put a recurring event in my phone’s calendar. Now, every Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. I get a buzzing reminder from my phone. Before long I was hooked, setting reminders to bring snacks to work, to buy tickets to a concert, or to make a phone call.

Sometimes, the mere act of entering the item into my phone sears it onto my memory banks and I remember without any prompting. But quite often, the reminder is a critical trigger to getting something done.

I've been known to use the reminder feature for something that is less than an hour away. If I need to leave work early to pick up Eric from school, for example, I’ll put a reminder in my phone. It’s easy for me to get involved in a project and lose track of time.

So if you have trouble remembering to do things, use the little alarm clock you carry around in your pocket. Works like a charm.

I remembered to post this, didn’t I?