Coping with "What Did I Come Here For?"

[TromboneAl]

For me, one trick in figuring out what the heck I came in here for is "location." I've found that although I've forgotten what I was going to do, I usually remember exactly where I was going to do it. The exact part of the room, drawer, etc. That sometimes helps.

I've also noticed that I usually have a clear memory of the emotion involved. Yesterday I was in front of the fridge, I couldn't remember what I was planning to do, but I remember it was something I was looking forward to doing.

It turned out I had planned to move some leftover olives to another container to free up the jar I needed for something else. Not sure if that helps.

 

[footenote]

"Why would I be here? Oh yeah...."

 

[Teacher Terry]

The surest way to remember is to go back to the spot where you originally had the thought)

 

[NW-Bound]

I remember the OP had a thread, or maybe a couple of posts, on this same subject a few years back.

 

[tmm99]

I often remember the sequence of events, but I cannot remember what thought was triggered by it, so I go back and do the same thing, and most of the time, the same thought pops in my head and it then all comes back to me.

Multi-tasking seems to become more difficult as I age, so if I'm thinking about something or some things while doing something else, forget it (literally). At this point, I'm OK if I'm focusing on one thing (ie. doing a spreadsheet). If I'm doing something and something else pops in my head, like "I need to go upstairs and get xyz", unless I give it some thought, I often cannot remember, so I either need to stop what I'm doing and go get xyz right then and then, or I have to write it down.

 

[W2R]

I figure that if I can't remember what I was going to do there, then it probably just wasn't that important. So, I go play my video games, browse the internet, take a nap, do the dishes, or whatever, all of which are probably more important than whatever-it-was.

 

[audreyh1]

The surest way to remember is to go back to the spot where you originally had the thought)

Yep! I received that advice a year ago, and it really works!

 

[youbet]

The surest way to remember is to go back to the spot where you originally had the thought)

I can't remember where that was. "I had to be someplace when I had that thought, but where?"

 

[NW-Bound]

I can't remember where that was. "I had to be someplace when I had that thought, but where?"

"Last thing I remember,
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before"

 

[braumeister]

I've posted this before:

It's known as the Doorway Effect. Basically, every time you pass through a portal (a doorway is the most common), you lose whatever thought had been balanced on top of that rickety stack in your brain.

DW and I joke about it all the time, as it happens to everyone.

Maybe my imagination, but I often try to reverse it by going back through the portal I just passed through, hoping the thought will return. That technique works often enough that it's always worth a try.

Why Walking through a Doorway Makes You Forget

 

[Dash man]

Thank God it’s not just me!!!

 

[Amethyst]

I learned this early, as the absent-minded child of an absent-minded mother.

The surest way to remember is to go back to the spot where you originally had the thought)

 

[marko]

Thank God it’s not just me!!!

And sometimes after trying to remember for a few minutes, I just have to walk away and say 'oh, well...mustn't have been that important'.

 

[Winemaker]

I can't find the previous link, but some research believed it had to do with a primitive survival instinct. Whenever one leaves the woods and walks into a meadow or field, all senses must be focused on survival in the open, as one is no longer protected by the trees.

 

[Dawg52]

I remember the OP had a thread, or maybe a couple of posts, on this same subject a few years back.

He probably forgot.

We all do it. The hope is for it to not get out of control. Then we are in deep crap.

 

[jim584672]

"Who am I? Why am I here?" - James Stockdale, vice-presidential nominee

 

[CaptTom]

I'm finding the "notes" app on my (Android) phone pretty helpful. It started out as just shopping lists, so next time I'm in the store I'll remember what I'm out of. I used to always just remember that.

Then it was projects and tasks I wanted to be sure to finish.

Yesterday I even used the free-hand drawing option to diagram the wall I was cutting a piece of sheetrock for, since I had to go out to the shop to cut it. I'm sure I'd have gotten the measurements wrong or reversed had I just tried to remember, or even just jotted down the numbers without a diagram.

I figure one day I'll be saying "OK Google - remind me when I get to the kitchen" about whatever it was I left the living room for!

 

[Bestwifeever]

It’s easy, just

Stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

At least we still remember thete was something we wanted to do even if it’s hovering on the edge of our brain.

 

[MRG]

I pinch my.left earlobe.

 

[HFWR]

https://youtu.be/5IsSpAOD6K8

 

[KCGeezer]

I agree it can be frustrating standing in front of the fridge trying to remember what you got up to get. What’s really bad is going back and sitting down when you give up at the fridge only to realize you meant to go to the bathroom.

 

[HFWR]

I agree it can be frustrating standing in front of the fridge trying to remember what you got up to get. What’s really bad is going back and sitting down when you give up at the fridge only to realize you meant to go to the bathroom.

But at least I found my car keys!

 

[W2R]

But at least I found my car keys!

Years ago when I was in engineering school, one day I was heavily absorbed in thought about what I was learning, and somehow managed to accidently put my car keys in the freezer.

Luckily, I haven't done that since....

 

[Walt34]

My younger (by 18 months) sister and I used to tease our poor mother about this. Now we're doing it. Karma's a bitch.

 

[MRG]

Years ago when I was in engineering school, one day I was heavily absorbed in thought about what I was learning, and somehow managed to accidently put my car keys in the freezer.

Luckily, I haven't done that since....

My DF lost things all the time. Family joke, has anyone seen my glasses?

One year he lost his prescription sunglasses and eventually had to admit it to DM. He replaced his lost sunglasses and took DMs jokes. A year later, hawking golf balls in the woods, he looked at branch on a tree. There they were, right where he'd set them down a year before.