My long term memory might rival that of an elephant.
My short term memory is shot and I always forget things.
Like taking something home from work and vice versa.
Appointments : (
I have been stuck in -30 weather in front of the office because I forgot my access card - again.
I find that if I leave my car keys on the item, then there is a very good chance I will not forget. Right now I have my car keys on a tupperware container inside the office fridge. My friend’s wife had sent some food over.
I have forgotten it twice already.
I make lists and leave them on the driver’s seat 
I try to do things in sequence.
Dozens of alarms on the phone.
I know a friend’s mom who ties knots on kitchen towels and articles of clothing and then forgets why she tied them in the first place.
How about you guys ?
I guess this is more so I remember that I did it - when I turn off the stove, take my medicine, put away leftovers, etc., I will say it out loud to myself a few times, “I’m taking my med, taking my med, I took my med, took my med.”
And yes, keys and phone must be in the same place at all times.
Yet, I have a mind full of useless knowledge.
This is probably the opposite of quaint, but I have a sticky notes app–a simple widget that displays as a yellow box on my phone’s home screen into which I can type lists, reminders, etc. Since my hand starts to itch if I’m away from my phone too long, I always have those reminders in front of me.
I used to actually write notes on my hand. That worked well too, though it didn’t look super professional.
I tape notes to my back door if I need to remember to bring something with me when I leave.
I will write with a dry erase marker on the door window.
I have phone reminders for dozens of things, to the point that every day I have reminders for multiple actions, both mundane/household stuff (i.e. “time to clean the HVAC filters” or “sweep the floor”) and external appointments.
A few days leading up to when I’m going to travel, a make two checklists. One for things I need to include in packing my bags, and I cross them off as they go in the bag(s). I do this a few days before because it gives me time to think of anything else I might want to include. The other list is the preparation of the house: refrigerator low, power strip for my PC/monitor/accessories off and unplugged, HVAC lowered, garage door opener circuit breaker off, washing machine water supply spigots off doors/windows etc. I go through the house and check each off a few minutes before leaving.
A few memo pads magnetically stuck to the refrigerator for maintenance items showing the dates of when I accomplished them to determine when the next may be due: HVAC filter R&R, drip coffee maker de calcifying, emptying the catch can my car’s engine, hot water heater drain/flush.
I don’t know if any of these would qualify to the level of “quaint”, but over the years a few people thought it curious as to why I would put such thought into these things.
I always keep my keys, my purse and my phone in the same places and have an automated routine to pick them up when I leave the house. So if there’s something else I have to take with me, I put it where the purse is. Works all the time. If it’s something too big for putting there (a box or something like that), I put in front of the door so that I literally would stumble over it if I forgot to take it when leaving.
I call it my low tech palm pilot. But it works, no batteries required, and I probably won’t lose it.
When Mrs. L backs out of the garage, she has some spiel like “Door is down, door is down, door is down.” The remote gives a beep beep beep and a green light but she has to see it’s down.
I’ve got a steel door, so if I need to remember to mail something, I have a magnet strip around a foot long that I put the envelope [inside door] under to hold it up. Can’t forget it because it’s at face level when I go to open the door.
If other items, I put them in a small plastic bag I hang on the inside door knob.
This changed my life. Maybe saved it, if my wife’s murderous glares are any indication.
Any little thing gets an event with alarm and notifications on my phone:
“Can you bike past somewhere to get blueberries?”
“Ok, hon!” (and I now know, just like in Memento, that I only have 60 seconds to pull the phone out and make a calendar event).
Later: “What a frigid day, why did I ever decide to bike… what’s that? ‘Blueberries’? What about them? Well, I bet I have to buy some. Who put this in my phone? Gosh, thanks, Earlier Me, for the reminder!”
I’ve gone from being a model of efficiency to having a mind like a steel colander. My wife is now my reminder. She is a lifelong list maker, and she actually reads the bloody things and schedules to-dos on a paper calendar that sits next to the computer, and then follows through. I just look on in amazement and ask her “What am I doing today?”.
Dude. DUDE. Saw your thread title and came in to post exactly this. I used to put my keys in the office fridge all the time, to force me to take home my good leftovers.
A million years ago I rigged an alarm system with a light timer and a cassette tape recorder. The tape played whatever thing I’d pre-recorded for myself the night before, that I needed to remember first thing in the morning.
Dry erase markers live in the basket with my toothbrush in the bathroom. Important reminders get written on the mirror. Really important reminders get written on the toilet seat lid (which is always down because of cats). Can’t misplace the toilet or get out of the house without brushing my teeth or looking in the mirror to put on lipstick.
Speaking of lipstick, that’s great, too, for truly blazing reminders on the mirror. For stuff that’s even more important than a dry-erase marker could convey, I guess.
I’ve got good long and short term memories. Where I get in trouble is routine, highly automated actions such as locking the door, or lowering the heat when I leave the house. Got fed up with it the third time I turned back to check the front door.
So now I use the Japanese technique of Pointing & Calling. When I leave the house I lock the door, point at it and say aloud, “I have locked the door.”
It works well for me. I actually remember having taken that action and my mind is at ease. It’s similar to some of the safety stuff I do in my job, so it feels familiar and is effective.
I am not alone !! I’ve read that these small distracted memory lapses usually come into play after shattering and life altering events in one’s life. The late 90s upto 2002 were like that for me.
Four of my best friends died in quick succession along with my dog. I went bonkers.
Spectacles
Testicles
Wallet
Watch
as you make the sign of the cross…
No, I don’t really do that, but I can imagine the day when I might need to.
Pray, why testicles ?
So he doesn’t forget them, of course.