Devir Kahan

These days I have lots on my mind and tons of things to remember. Tools like Things, NvAlt, and others help me keep track of everything. But sometimes, for whatever reason, I can’t get to my iPhone or Mac to jot down some info into a note, or a task into Things. Maybe I’m stuck in class, or in a position where taking out my phone would be rude, am just away from it all, or just want to try remembering something with my actual mind for a change. Assuming that I have no access to any means to write something down, remembering said item can be rather difficult.

I hate forgetting things. It drives me mad. So I devised a system of sorts to help me remember things when I have no means to write it down. And I have to say, it works. It’s not perfect, no, but it sure helps.

The system is a way of mentally tagging things. Doing so helps you associate items with something that is easier to remember, thus recalling the items later is made easier.

Now, there is a general memory improvement theory that dictates that associating, or tagging, things with other things you know will help you to remember the item. For instance, you can associate the names of the Presidents with objects in your room at home. When you get to that test in school, you should be able to just think of the object and your mind will make the jump and associate said object with the allotted President. Of course, it’s not quite that simple, but is worlds better than just blindly recalling facts.

While that theory is great, and indeed is the basis for my system, when trying to recall tasks or quick ideas - which is what this system is for - I actually only mentally tag items with one of two things: Numbers or Importance. For recalling things like tasks and quick ideas I find this more specific method of tagging to work better.

First, you have to boil down the task or idea into a word or two at most. Anything more than this will prove more difficult to remember. Just come up with a trigger word that, upon replaying in your head, you are sure that it will lead you to remember the full task or idea.

Second, tag that word or two with a level of importance. Determine just how important the item is to remember, and then mentally tag it with one of two categories: Important or Not Important. ‘Important’ items are ones that you really want to remember, while ‘Not Important’ ones are not so much useless items, but rather, ones that, if forgotten, would not be all that devastating at all.

Why do you do this? You see, this step is the crux of the system. It is so crucial. Because, the truth is that you are going to forget some things. But what we want is to not only keep the amount of forgotten items to a minimal, but also to make sure that those forgotten items are not the important ones. And so that if and when you do forget something, you can put your mind at ease by knowing that it wasn’t really all that important, instead of racking your brain and getting stressed out trying to figure out what it was.

The third step is to tag the item with a number. Not only is this yet another thing for your mind to associate the item with, but it makes remembering lists of items so much easier. By turning the items you need to remember into a list it becomes far easier to recall just how many items there were. So come time to finally dump your brain into your computer or notepad, you can know without a doubt that you remembered everything.

The final step, of course, is to get all of the information out of your head and into written word as soon as possible. The next opportunity you have, get all those tasks and ideas in your computer or notebook.

There are some tips I can offer before I can truly say I am done.

• Tag even only one item with ‘1’. It’s another thing that makes it easier to remember.
• When it comes to tagging items as ‘Important’ or ‘Not Important’, an easy delimiter is whether or not the item will come up naturally in your day to day life. For instance, “Get new pens” is something that you will, at one point or another, remember regardless of whether or not you remember it right now. The time will come when you realize that all your pens are out of ink and the end result will be you getting some new pens. Something like that should be tagged with ‘Not Important’ because you know that even if you don’t recall that item when you get to your computer later that day, you know in the moment that you will definitively remember it at some point. Don’t worry about these as much.
• Remember that list you made? Well, go over it as often as possible. Not obsessively, but when you get the chance run the items through in your head. Every time you go over it makes the list that much fresher when you try to recall it later in your day.
• Get it out. The sooner you get the items out of your hand and into written word the higher chance you’ll get everything.

What if you do forget something? Get over it. I hate to be blunt, and trust me, I know exactly how difficult that can be some times, but that is what you have to do. The fact of the matter is that getting all bent out of shape trying to remember something just isn’t worth it. And I know that is a lot easier said than done - I struggle with it myself - but you got to do it. And, if you’ve used the system outlined here correctly, chances are that the item you’ve missed is something that’s lower on the importance totem pole, or better yet, something that will come up sooner or later anyway. Don’t drive yourself crazy over something non-crucial. That’s what ‘Important’ vs ‘Not Important’ means.

Of course, this works for everything in life that you would like to remember. Mental tagging is a powerful thing.

Anyway, I hope it helps.