How do you remember things... ? Is this a daft solution ?

Not potty at all - whatever works for you.

I have a friend who, although she has many friends, will always ring to see how a hospital visit/test results went. It is a lovely thing to do and I know how she keeps track. When a friend mentions ill health or an appointment, she writes up in a post-it which is kept by the phone.

I think that anything that helps is not potty at all. Writing events on a calendar or in a diary could help as well.

Hmmm may be I should use post-its and add them into my address book next to the person's name. Then I can keep updating!

More things to worry about! If you did all this writing and phoning would your friends do the same for you? I always forget where my friends are going on holiday( and I expect they forget where we are going to.)It doesn't matter, unless they have important hospital tests/results.I think you would remember that anyway?

Yep, post-its, must remember to buy more !!

It's not the small details of their lives I forget - it's the details of mine! When someone says to me "what have you been up to since I saw you last" I struggle to remember even if it's only a few weeks! Then, when we have parted it is "gosh I forgot to tell them about..... or ......."! My best friend is ridiculously well organised. Never forgets birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I am hopeless.

I do that as well Greyduster, don't remember even interesting things I have done, my life then sounds so boring.
The post it idea is a good one. I also put a note on the calendar about last bed changes and major cleaning otherwise they get done twice in quick succession or not at all. Think I need to get out more

I write all details in my small diary then, on the first of every month I get a piece of paper and copy all the details for the forthcoming month onto it. The paper then gets sellotaped onto the side of my microwave. Every morning, when I go to put the kettle on, I check to see if there's anything I need to remember that day. Then, every night, when I checking that everything is turned off, I cross that day out. It works for me.

I just muddle through

These ideas are really helpful as I'm trying to get into the habit of writing things down more, too. My mother is getting rather forgetful at 97 and sometimes notes things down but, as she has never made a habit of it, she doesn't do it regularly. So I'm trying to establish the habit now, so that it will be second nature in 30 years' time (if I'm still around, inch allah).

I shall also try and remember to ask people I meet if I can take a photo of them as I have always had a terrible memory for faces. Once I have established who someone is, I can then reel off their birthday and phone number, but I need to be reminded whose the face is first!

So, yes, this is a very good idea - people who remember where you went for holidays, and what your children and DGC are called really make you feel important. It would be good to be able to do that to people.

I'm in Greyduster's camp. My son called last week and I had nothing of interest to tell him about my week just discussed their lives then the next day I was in hospital having minor surgery on my scalp and realised I hadn't mentioned it.

If you have a smartphone you can add notes on your friends' contact pages. All those bits of paper and post its might get lost. ( or forgotten)

I keep my diary on my iPhone/kindle & put reminders in for all things I need to remember then on appropriate day/time I get a noisy reminder - works well but drives hubby mad with constant noises !!!

I have always been very organised (I live my life by lists ).I have been known to write on a list something I have already done to have the satisfaction of crossing it off.... (one if my bosses once confessed to doing the same thing .He was quite scary so it was rather endearing )
If someone mentions something en passent e.g .an upcoming big birthday I note in my diary asap 'send x a card ' even if its months away .Ditto tests ,minor ops etc I have always prided myself on my good memory but I find with age it's my safety belt to write things down .I do think these small acknowledgements /enquiries make friends feel loved. Friend recently had an op for something which could have been major and she says the texts,emails and flowers really helped with morale .So I try

My phone helps me to remember most things when family are going in hospital and other details I always put birthday alarms on a couple of days beforehand in time for the post I also use shopping list apps to help remember items I'm running low on .

I write events on my calendar in the kitchen, cross off when done, for everyday things I have notes by my computer, ones I can take with me when going out, to be on the safe side.
Its lovely to read I am not alone with memory problems!

This is a really helpful thread. I'm a post-it-note addict and try to have them in every room so I can write things down as I remember them. Although I'm on my own I get the Couples Calendar from BusyB.co.uk which gives me plenty of room to write everything down and has a pocket for each month to keep appointment letters, tickets etc. Will start noting down when I change the bed etc. that's a really useful idea Christinefrance. I also get post-it-notes from BusyB that have sticky at both ends so that you can wrap them round bag/door handles and in my case the steering wheel of the car. At least that way I'm still outside the house when I find out what I've forgotten to take with me!

I put things on my phone, or post it notes, and that seems to help, x

Some Brilliantly helpful ideas here. My memory isn't very good now (65 next month - ouch!!). I meet a friend every 4 to 6 weeks for a coffee and chat. I have known her for 32 years (!) and still struggle to remember the names of her 4 DGC - all born in the last 8 years - and her recent holidays etc. Whereas she seems to remember all sorts of my details about my family etc.

I love Suzied's idea about keeping notes on a smartphone. I have just done exactly that with all the interesting minutiae about my friend and her family we talked about a couple of days ago so I can refer to it when I see her for my birthday in mid-April. Wonder if she will be impressed?

I'm also going to take up ChristineFrance's idea about writing down when beds are changed and other household events. Like Anniebach, for years I have simply muddled through.

I do write things on scraps of paper and backs of envelopes, but soon lose those!! But I always, (well, nearly always!) know where my mobile is . So now I will be able to check on friends' details etc at the touch of a button. Thank you for all your great ideas.

My, you are an organised lot! I do have a Birthday Book, and look at that regularly , and have not so far, missed anyone's birthday/ anniversary, and a day diary by the phone, to jot down appointments and anywhere that we are going, but if I was to write about the hospital appointments etc of our friends, it would need to be a very big book.
When asked 'what we have done for the last two weeks' I can never remember anything much either.

DH buys me a plain kitchen diary/ calendar - week to view - every Christmas and we put all appointments, birthdays etc in there. It is very useful if we remember to look at it! For instance, I had it firmly fixed in my head that I had a clinic appointment on Wednesday but happened to glance at the calendar as I put the kettle on on Tuesday morning and it was on Tuesday. Luckily I got there in time.

I forget what friends have told me but that's OK because they forget too and tell me all over again.
The friends we rarely see usually send Christmas letters and I keep those and re-read them before sending out next year's Christmas cards.

I have the opposite problem when it comes to updating people about my own life - have I told them already?!!

Would rather play mahjong than write all those notes