The book is also available in digital formats.
Do you have problems remembering birthdays and anniversaries, appointments and errands?
Do you sometimes find yourself in a room, and wonder why you're there?
Do you end up doing things twice because you've forgotten you've already done them?
Of all the memory failures that plague us, forgetting our intentions -- birthdays, appointments, errands we mean to do -- is the greatest, closely followed by those moments of absentmindedness when we lose track of what we're doing.
The special problem of these common memory failures is that they are failures that are often very obvious to others. More than any other memory failure, forgetting the future makes others feel hurt and annoyed, causing us regret and embarrassment. And absentmindedness can not simply be irritating, but dangerous.
Many people think that these sorts of problems are inevitable -- a natural consequence of getting older, or going through menopause, or because of some 'natural' personality flaw. But remembering future events, and remembering what you're doing or have just done, are memory tasks that, like any other memory task, are subject to your skills. Skills can be learned.
To learn or improve a skill, you need to know effective strategies and how to practice them. This book helps you understand these memory and attention failures, and shows you how to overcome them.
As always with the Mempowered books, this fully referenced book, based on the work of cognitive researchers, helps you permanently improve your memory skills by explaining what you need to know to use these strategies effectively and appropriately.
Publication date: June, 2011
File size: 208 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9876522-6-3
Why read this book?
What this book is about
What this book should do for you
1. How memory works and why it sometimes fails
Memories are made of this
Why people fail to remember
Know thyself: a quiz
2. Remembering to do things
Memory for future actions is different from other types of memory
Retrospective memory
Forgetting routine actions is not a failure of memory
3. Short-term goals and short-term memory
Working memory
Working memory and attention
Age and attention
4. Forgetting what you’re doing
Short-term memory problems are attention problems
Action sequences are why we make action slips
Common types of action slip
Situations when action slips are most likely
Have I done it already?
What makes some people more prone to absent-minded errors?
How to prevent action slips
5. Structuring your goals
A hierarchy of goals
Ordering your goals
The problem of suspended intentions
6. Circumstances that affect your remembering
Event-based retrieval cues are better than time-based
Is being too busy a valid excuse?
Wanting to remember is not enough!
Timing and complexity
7. Are some people better at remembering intentions?
Age differences
Individual differences
Review
8. General strategies for remembering intentions
Strategies people use
Effective strategies for remembering intentions
Mental strategies for better recall
Using environmental memory aids
9. Strategies for specific tasks
Remembering appointments
Remembering anniversaries and birthdays
Remembering arrangements
Remembering errands and chores
Remembering to take medicine
10. Your master strategy
Assessing memory tasks
Deciding on your memory strategies
It’s not all about memory
We fail to achieve intentions for many reasons
Believing in your abilities
The bottom line
Appendix A: Theories of prospective memory
Is prospective memory fundamentally different from retrospective memory?
Theory explains many characteristics of prospective memory
Conclusion
Appendix B: External memory aids
Context-based reminder systems