Need to bring something out with you tomorrow? Physically block the front door with the thing tonight!
ADHD here. Remembering things is a lost cause for me.
Instead, I lay physical "traps" for myself. Things in physical space that hinder my autopilot, snap me out of the trance, and give me a chance to reorient my focus into something more productive.
It's not foolproof. Far from it. But it does help a lot.
Edit:
Just thought of another one I do: I have a phone casing that lets me keep cards in them. One of my credit cards go there, of course.
But the more important thing in there is my apartment access card. If I ever forget to bring my phone, I will only get as far as the security door outside before I realise I have to turn back.
I wish this worked for me. I’ve put things on the doorknob of my bedroom and still forgotten to take them out of the house. Setting reminders on my phone works though for some reason
I am soo blind to phone reminders. I have one go off every day telling me what to take to work and it's just a thing that exists that I jus switch off daily without thinking. Can't even be bothered to remove it.
I try to put my clothing hamper on my bed when doing laundry at night, so I don't forget to move it to dryer. If its morning and I plan to leave, I put it in front of the door if I remember to.
I have a dumping area in the kitchen where I eat my breakfast and drink my coffee. I shove anything I need to remember in what will be my eye line when I sit down.
I have tried the tip someone gave me once of putting house keys on top of lunch box on fridge as well so as not to forget it. Pretty good idea!
I have a routine of just pulling my lunch out when I get the milk for my coffee at the moment though and that's working quite well.
I have a routine of just pulling out my lunch when I get the milk for my coffee
I think someone once told me that this is called “habit stacking”. It’s when you take a habit that you already do every day (like brushing your teeth) and mix it with something else you need/want to do (like listening to an audiobook)
I don't have ADHD but ever since my accident last year my memory isn't as good as it used to be. The doctors checked me out and said everything is fine but I keep misremembering where I leave basic stuff. I spent two days looking for a pack of lost batteries only to realize they were on the table the entire time.
I do something similar now, I always keep a backpack with me. Whenever I need to keep track of something important, goes in the backpack. Keys, wallet, random thing I want to have later. It's really convenient and my pockets are always empty now which is great.