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

Have to say that looks quite organized, but it is funny standing in the supermarket listening to OH talking to some friendly person and knowing that he has not got a clue who he is talking to. He gives little hints such as 'Is your daughter still in .......?' So I know he is waiting for the person to say something like 'Yes, Clair is still in ......' She has just had a baby you know, Freddy is 3 weeks old now(another for the spreadsheet!). Have to smile to myself because I know he is picking up clues and then when we leave he says 'Nice to see you again Jane!' so I know the penny has dropped and he knows who she is.

I have a huge A4 diary which list everything from mulching in the garden on certain month,remembering to text/call friends if been ill, or if even haven't but I realise I maybe hadn't heard from them in a while, appointments, blocking out a day if I need to do something specific, coffee with friends, when to check online banking, keeping adrift of any online shopping I may have done and then returned the shop but need to check when/if the amount gone back into bank account. That sort of thing.
I then transfer every Sunday evening or Monday morning the whole weeks "stuff to do" to a weekely planner tear off pad and write all down on the days of the weeks what I'm doing. I get great satisfaction each day ticking off what Iv done for the day . If by end of week there's "stuff" I didn't do it get transferred over to the following weeks weekly planner!
This works for me .
My friends say I'm too **organised but it's how I am .

We r all different ?

For Birthdays we go by each month and put all the cards on the wall unit ready to post at the appropriate time. We also write the date on the back so we don't forget.

For people's names it is easy if you think of some characteristic such as 'Smiling Sandra', 'Funny Fred', 'Happy Henry'. and add it to their name.

Groceries we usually take a list, but add to it in the shop :-)

We both have a diary to put important things in as well such as dentist or doctor appointments. OH also does a spread sheet with the names, birthdates, age, tel no, email address and home address on them which is in use all the time.

At Christmas I make a list of what I got for whom and keep it for next year so I do not get the same thing twice.

Getting around we use a satnav.

Also if you are computer literate you can set the reminder on your computer to flash up on important dates.

So far so good! When we forget where we keep the computer then we are in trouble!

If you remember that a friend went away but not where then just ask if they enjoyed their holiday and they will respond with 'yes, Crete/France/Lanzarote or wherever was wonderful!

I am a multi tasker. I believe my working life in management is responsible
Now retired one would think I have all the time in the world.
Old habits are difficult to get rid of.
I now decorate my kitchen with colourful post it which amuse my friends but at least they can be sure I will be in when they turn up for our usual coffee mornings and I have not wizzed off on something I had forgotten to tell them about.

I certainly don't worry about when and where my friends go on holiday but I always write on the calendar if somebody close is going into hospital or for tests so I can wish them good luck or call and ask how things went.

Don't feel it's particularly important to remember the minutiae of friends activities. A simple 'where were you again?' does the trick for me if they hadn't already brought it up in the conversation which is often the case. However......I certainly do make a special effort to remember the names of their close family members. These are personal and long standing important details. Where they don't come naturally I do a refresher. Good few friends all with pretty active lives makes it impossible for me to remember specifics. I know my limitations and.....they are many!

Before I retired I was a manger in a large organisation. I have found that since I retired I have to work twice as hard at organising my own life. This is partly because all the people I get to know or in some cases to reconnect with come from many different walks of life. For new emails when I put them into the electronic address book in the display name I put the year, the organisation, and then their name i.e. 2017 U3A Jane Doe. This means that I find it much easier to track down people I have met on holiday or at a U3A class etc. Then I do keep a folder for friends and acquaintances on my computer and put in details on a 'running sheet'per peerson that I feel I should remember. And yes I have a card file for my voluntary work.

I also have an excel sheet for all my addresses linked to a labels printing set up. I print it out once a year and then to all those people I do not send a christmas card to, I can look at the remaining address labels and think about what contact I wish to make.

I set up my paper diary each year with A- Z pages for addresses in the back so that any that I use that are new go in there as well as the standard hair, GP, garage etc.

Yesterday in family history class I met someone new who also attended the funeral of a friend. She wrote her name directly into my little address book which I carry in my handbag with my diary. Today I will email her to make sure it works. Ihave warned her it will come as 2017LALher name.

my mother and father keep a birthday calendar and two address books copying one into the other and crossing out with a date anytime someone died. This helped us to invite everyone to her 100th birthday though sadly one important couple got overlooked.

Great to see all the systems we have up an running. this is a useful thread.

My problem is the opposite to angelab; most of my friends are so busy updating me on their lives that thye don't ask me about mine. I've got used to it, and also since I am very private, it obviates the interrogation about my own life.
I used to get rather annoyed and hurt, but now it is a cause of laughter - DH asks me "how much time I'd been allocated! and if it is more than 5 minutes on the hour or more my friend/s and I have spent together, we get points.
If I have forgotten, I just look apologetic and make them feel better!

I remember DH saying years ago 'don't ever let me become a man of riutine like my uncle' but having a certain routine does help eg changing bed linen on a Monday, shopping on a Friday unless something more exciting turns up.

Would rather play mahjong than write all those notes

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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!

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 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

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 !!!

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'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.

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 just muddle through