For many of us as we age, issues concerning our memory have become front and center. Some are alarmed and some become even angry (ha ha …me)! How could I forget “that”? Amazed and astounded that I let that slip my mind.
After happening so many times, it was suggested to me that I should try to form particular habits of important activities, thus putting less pressure on actually remembering those things. I’ll share some of them with you:
Remembering to Take Medication or Nutritional Supplements
If you’re currently on medication or are taking nutritional supplements on a daily basis, many are finding that we sometimes forget whether we’ve taken the required dosage or not. Due to this, there have been instances of some folks over-medicating or taking extra supplement – simply because they can’t remember whether they’ve already taken them or not.
This started happening to me so what I did was to get a rectangular box that could hold all the containers of all items I’m currently taking. These can be easily found at The Dollar Store, Walmart, Target, etc. I then got an index card (you can use anything you prefer) and placed it at the end of the box. In front of the card I placed all the containers of the items for the day.
As I take each one, I place its container behind the index card in the back of my box and I repeat the process until they are all behind it. The card will now of course be in the very front of your box.
You might ask “why not get one of those days-of-the-week thingies and fill them up daily?” Been there and done that! It takes up too much time to fill them and besides, I’ve had friends who misplaced them in their coming and going throughout the day. This box with the partition method works really well.
Remembering Medical and/or Dental appointments
This is a regular occurrence for middleagers and it can be both costly and embarrassing. One remedy for this, and the one I use, is to calendar these dates in as many places as you possibly can, i.e., your cell phone, computer, diary/calendar in your office, night stand … wherever you keep one. Set up alerts for these upcoming appointments as well so you’ll know ahead of that date, what’s upcoming.
Form life-changing habits
Try doing your regular activities – whatever they may be – at the same time each day. When your day is not structured, you’re basically just going through the day all “Willy Nilly” and before you know it, the day would have ended with not much being done.
If you prefer to work out in the mornings, do just that each day. Prepare and have your breakfast at a certain time each day. The same thing with errands you may have to run. Preparing and having dinner – the same thing.
Once you get into this routine, you’ll find it becomes habit-forming which is exactly what you want.
Go to bed at the same time each night.
This too will become habit forming, especially if you’re having sleeping issues.
Wake up at the same time every day.
Your body will become accustomed to this time and you’ll get to a point where you won’t even need an alarm!
