ADHD and Forgetfulness

How many RedBox movies do you own? I'm a proud owner of about 6. I blame it on my ADHD. I pick up a movie, watch it and then forget. I now forbid RedBox in my house. I used to forget where I put my keys, where I left my purse, what time to pick up my kids, doctor appointments.  You name it, I forgot it.  My mom used to tell me I would forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body. 

So here are some tips from the head forgetter:

1.  Keep a calendar on your phone.  I schedule doctor’s appointments, birthdates, parent-teacher conferences, early pick up days, play dates, bill due dates, phone calls that need to be made, grocery shopping days, school assignment due dates, when my period is scheduled to start, medication refills, and trash pick-up days. You name it, I put it on the calendar.  Then I make sure I get a reminder alarm to alert me when these things are coming.  When I'm cooking, I set reminder alarms, even if it's 7 minutes.  It works.  If I know something out of the ordinary is coming up in my day, I set an alarm for it.  The hardest step you'll make doing this is getting started and making it a habit.  I'm very rarely late for anything now, and remember everything!! :)

2.  I put my keys in the exact same place every single time I walk into the house.  This one is hard, it takes conscious effort to do this.  But after having to pay for my keys to be replaced so many times, I decided to make the extra effort every day.  It gets tricky when I go somewhere new.  But I attach my keys to my purse every single time they aren't being used.  I get very stressed out if they fall in my purse and they aren't attached to the handle or if I forget to attach them...little panic attack.  So I just do it every single time.  Build the habit.

3.  Ever seen the movie Long Kiss Goodnight?  Samuel L. Jackson's character sings as he places his belongings down. Guess what?  It works.  I put my phone down, I say out loud where I put it.  If I have a paper prescription in my hand and I put it down, I tell myself out loud where I'm putting it.  I find telling myself out loud what my plans are, helps too.  And do NOT care what other people think of you, talking out loud to yourself is actually a sign of genius. So embrace your inner genius and start talking out loud.

All of these things took me a long time to perfect.  It took weeks and months to create these habits.  But if you’re as frustrated as I was, you'll start now and thank yourself later.