I have an excellent memory. This is something that I have always prided myself on, and it has served me well. I credit my memory with my success in high school and university, for one thing. I did well in school because I am good at taking tests, and I am good at taking tests because I can recall information with accuracy, especially in the short term. My memory helped me earn scholarships and become an engineer and launch a reasonably successful career. It was very good to me.
Since I remember things easily, I don’t write much down. My schedule is in my head, along with my shopping list and my action items, and in general that works well for me. While I might have a good memory for details like my mother’s license plate number, I am constantly losing things. I might occasionally claim to lose my mind, but that’s not a physical reality. My head has not yet detached itself from my body and gone to live with my slippers and my cell phone charger, wherever they may be, so my memory is the safest place for details I need to remember.
But. (Why must there always be a but?) My amazing recall is not what it once was. I blame a variety of things for the rust that is growing on the steel trap of my mind. Age is probably one factor, sadly. Also, I have way more details to remember than I used to, what with two little people who have schedules of their own. And on top of that I fear that the nature of my life at the moment, with little in the way of structure or routine, isn’t helping. I don’t get the same cues when every day is more or less the same and I’m not exactly sure if it’s Wednesday or Thursday.
Am I losing my mind?
As my recall declines, I start forgetting things. I drop the ball and my kid misses her clayworking class, or I never send the email I swore up and down that I would. And when I forget things, panic sets in. I am the person with the amazingly good memory – if I lose that, who am I? What do I have left? The answer, as it turns out, is lists.
I have lists, though not physical lists, because I would lose those. Mine are all virtual lists. A draft post that has blog ideas, scheduled for 15 years from now so that it’s always at the top of the screen. A shared Google Calendar with my husband so that we can keep tabs on each other. I am sort of resentful of the lists, since they represent my forgetfulness, but I keep them because I have no other good choice.
I do not enjoy lists!
Tell me, dear internet, because I want to know. Do you find that age and children are affecting your memory? Or are you getting sharper with time? I will admit, I hope that I’m not alone on this, although maybe if I am I’ll just forget that anyway. Losing my memory may offer certain compensations, after all.
I’m still sharp as a tack. HAHAHAHA
Really, I’m in about the same place as you, keeping to-do lists on the computer and relying on google calendar, documents, etc. I haven’t found the perfect solution yet for keeping me from forgetting to buy diapers or what time swim lessons are but I am getting close. No shame in finding a new way to keep life easy.
.-= Recovering Procrastinator´s last post ..Cute kid stories =-.
You’ve described me perfectly! I am still hoping that eventually, when I’m not so sleep-deprived, my memory will come back. And I’m still hoping that there will be a time in the next few years when I won’t be so sleep-deprived…
Yes. Yes, children are affecting my memory. They interrupt so much that I never get to have a complete thought. You should see my conversational skills. I trail off mid-sentence and just stare into the middle distance more than I would like. I never get a chance to properly commit things to memory in the first place.
I’ve always liked lists because I like the whole checking things off part. I have even been known to make lists of things I’ve already done just for the sense of accomplishment.
.-= BluebirdMama aka @childbearing´s last post ..Trust =-.
Oh absolutely having a child has made me lose my mind. I definitely rely on lists and Google calendar.
And like Bluebirdmama, I really do like checking things off of a list – if I do *something*, I feel better.
.-= Dionna @ Code Name: Mama´s last post ..Organizing Arts and Crafts =-.
My memory went down a LOT this pregnancy- but I’m also nursing so my nutrients are being put to their limit. Taking cod living oil has helped a lot- but I do depend on Google Calendar, too.
I have noticed how Pat looks at me in horror as all decision making skills have completely devolved. I just don’t make any sense anymore!
.-= Crunchy´s last post ..Just a Fan =-.
Age Smage — I blame the children! I was so smart before I had children. I still have perfect recall for passages in books or lines from a Star Trek episode from thirteen years ago, but I have trouble remembering where to be when, which of my children is named what, and occasionally that word that means the season between spring and fall. It’s kind of an adventure — you learn something old every day.
.-= Allison McCaskill´s last post ..**************Sentimental about Education =-.
LOVE the idea of keeping your blog idea list as a blog draft…. Right now I have too many lists. The work lists in my work notebook AND in my outlook (might need to combine those 2 someday before disaster strikes).
At home I have a number of things in my outlook tasks, and then some items in my notebook.
I just can’t seem to leave my ‘old school’ to do list in a notebook behind… perhaps too many years on the Stephen Covey system. Maybe I’m old school!!
it’s age …… and having a child running your life …. and having v few external date and time continuum cues …….
but then i’ve always run on lists (and yes, i’ve written lists of stuff i’ve done LOL)
but i used to be able to remember what to write in the lists whereas now, if it isn’t written down immediately it goes flying off into the ether with my other detached neurons …
.-= pomomama aka ebbandflo´s last post .. =-.
This is a hilarious post! I can very much relate to your memory issues. I used to have an incredible memory. After all, I do have a moon in Virgo
. (A Libra Sun with a Moon in Virgo) But I digress.
I wrote about this very issue here:
http://www.oldschoolnewschoolmom.com/2009/04/trying-to-remember.html
My memory got me 3 degrees and is the only reason I passed my 1st year calculus class (the prof gave an example in class and gave the same question on the final and I remembered the answer… seriously, I even freaked myself out). However, in recent years my husband and I often double book each other and swear up and down that we told the other. So, instead of arguing about who is the forgetful one, we both have our schedules on google calendar, including things like ‘call insurance lady’. To top it off, our 4 month old is eating our brain cells for breakfast so we’ve started forgetting to put our forget-me-nots in our calendars. What will happen in the coming years, no one knows.
I’ve always been a list-maker, paper and electronic. I think it’s because so much of my life was interrupt-driven pre-child, so even though fatigue has definitely made memory more difficult, I had to keep lists before anyway.
.-= Lady M´s last post ..More Chatter from the Boys =-.
I like to think it’s really because you have so much more to remember as you get older. And… oh, I forgot what i was going to say
.-= harrietglynn´s last post ..New Theme: monochrome =-.
Yeah, I’ve also always been A+ in the memory department, but lately the most obvious things in the world completely escape me.
Example: all of last week I had plans to go out with my friend on Thursday night. Every day we’d talk and I’d say “See ya Thursday!”
Then, on Wednesday I mentioned my plans to John, and as the words were coming out of my mouth, the look on his face reminded me that OHMYFINGGOD – Thursday was NOT ONLY our anniversary, but we had made big ol’ plans to spend the entire night downtown at Trump Tower and have a big ol’ fancy meal and everything.
Okay, it’s not like I forgot about our anniversary. On the contrary, I remembered it every day. But for some reason, the thursday I was spending with my friend seemed like a whole different Thursday than my anniversary.
I think THAT is a sign of my mind slipping. I wouldn’t say my memory is going – I still get A’s on every test. I think my mind is just beginning to separate and compartmentalize itself into family life vs everything else life.
How’s that for an explanation?
Funny title. I always thought my memory wasn’t particularly good but I in fact can remember an amazing number of things regarding my kids schedules, deadlines etc … so perhaps having a family has given my memory a good workout, and my memory has drastically improved over the years. It’s still not reliable, though. And I still have to write my first list…
.-= Francesca´s last post ..Happy New Ears =-.
i live by the list. mine are written down though, not virtual. i too have a pretty good memory but as i got older and started my carrer and then marriage and then kid, i discovered that there is only so much detail that my little brain can hold. so i moved to the list. nothing satisfies me more than crossing things off the list, whether it be groceries or a task at work.
.-= smothermother´s last post ..New toy =-.
Hi Amber,
. I also have many lists in my head that sometimes keep me awake at
I have always been a list maker. I have a monthly budget but I write down my expenditures and income to the last penny every paycheque…it helps for me to see it outside of my head
night…like conversations I want to have….worries….remembering where everything is and everything that needs to get done the next day. I don’t think it’s so much that we are losing it but there is just so much in there, some pieces just get buried!