You forgot that thing you were supposed to do for your boss. And that favor your were going to do for a friend. Or even to pay that bill that was due。

    Are you guilty of saying that you are going to do something and then don’t because you forgot? Forgetting is not an excuse, it is a root cause of your productivity issues. Whether it is todos, appointments, obligations, or bills… forgotten tasks often cause more work down the road。

    Here are 10 Ways to Stop Forgetting &Get More Done:

    Set an Alarm – We all have alarm clocks on our phones, yet few of us use them. Setting an alarm is the simplest way to remind yourself. Need to call that customer back by end of day? Set your alarm for 5PM. A simple alarm is the down and dirty way to jog your memory。

    Put it On Your Calendar – Calendars are often underutilized. Don’t just make appointments for meetings, but also for tasks that you need to do. This not only reminds you, but has the added benefit of allotting time to get the work done。

    Write it Down (on Your Todo List) - What do you put on your todo list? Many people only write down the big things. Ironically, the big things are usually pretty easy to remember. It is the small ones that you need to write down. Put it on your list… that is what it is for。

    Set a Reminder – Alarms are great for one-offs. However, for regular or repeating tasks go ahead and set a reminder. For example, I have a reminder on my iPhone that goes off every Wednesday at 7AM to tell me to put the trash out. 9 times out of 10, I have already put it out. But, the few times I hadn’t… it worked like a charm。

    Do It Now, So You Don’t Have to Remember Later – This one sounds like cheating, but the best way to avoid forgetting a task is to do it immediately. When appropriate, do small tasks right then and there. If it is only going to take a few seconds or minutes… Just Do It Now。

    Have Someone Else Remind You – A little accountability goes a long way. Have a family member, friend, or even co-worker hold you to performing a certain task. (BTW, kids are very good at this… my 8-year old son reminds me of things I “said I was going to do” all the time…)

    Put It On Automatic – One of my favorite ways to avoid forgetting tasks is to put them on automatic. Set and forget. This works great with AutoPay for bills. Get creative, you will be surprised how many things you can automate. For example, every six months Amazon automatically sends me a new water filter for my fridge. I don’t have to remember or even go out and get one。

    Don’t Say Yes In The First Place – Want to avoid forgetting that favor that you promised? Or that extra task you agreed to take on? One of the best methods is to say “No” in the first place. If you are overloaded with your own work, don’t agree to take on more. You are just setting yourself up to disappoint others。

    Have Someone Else Do It – If you can’t do it, delegate appropriate tasks. However, just remember that when you delegate, you still have to remember to follow-up. After all, you can delegate the doing of the task, but not the accountability.

    Use Your List! – Your todo list should be your best friend. It should remember so that you don’t have to. If you are following rule 3, then your list will have your back. When your list reminds you of something you forgot, you know it’s working.

    你忘记了上司交代过的任务，或是忘记要去给朋友帮个忙，又或是甚至忘了付到期的账单。

    你要去做某件事然后没完成，然后因为忘记了。这样子你不会觉得愧疚吗？忘了不是借口，而是生产效率问题上的根本原因。无论是待办事项、约会、债务或是账单等等，被忘记的这些任务经常也会导致更多工作难以完成。

    下面就是让你不再忘记的10招，挽救你的烂记性：

    闹钟定时。手机上都有闹钟的，但是我们却很少用到。定个闹钟是提醒自己最简单的方法。要在当天结束前电话回访客户吗？定个下午5点的闹钟提醒。简单的闹铃提醒是唤醒记忆最低级也最粗糙的方式。

    标在日历上。日历通常没有被充分利用。不要只是把会议约见标在上面，也要把你需要完成的事项标上。这样做不但可以提醒自己，而且还有助于完成工作的时间分配。

    写下来(写在待办事项清单上)。你在待办事项清单上写了什么呢？很多人就只是写下大事情。讽刺的是，记大事情通常都相当容易。而那些小事情才是你真正需要写下来的。把它们写在这张清单上，这才是它的真正功用。

    设置提醒。闹钟对于一次性提示非常有效。但是对于定期或是重复的工作，就来设置一个提醒吧。例如，我在iPhone上设置了一个提醒，让它在每周三早上7点钟的时候提醒我丢垃圾，10次中有9次我都已经把垃圾丢了出去。但是也有为数不多的几次是我还没有去丢垃圾……这种提醒就像是个魔咒似的。

    马上做，这样你就不用之后还要记着了。这一条看起来比较投机取巧，但是避免忘记一项任务最好的方法其实就是马上着手开始做。在适当的时候立马着手做一些小事情。如果这些事情完成只需要分分钟时间……那么现在就马上做吧。

    让其他人提醒你。问责制作用非常大。让一位家庭成员，一个朋友，或者甚至是同事约束你将要履行的某一工作。(顺便说一句，孩子做这个很在行……我8岁的儿子经常提醒我那些我讲到“我要去做什么什么”的话语……)

    设置自动模式。我最喜欢的避免遗忘的方式就是让事情自动化模式进行。设置然后就可以不管了。这点在自动清还账单上非常奏效。多点创意，你就会惊喜地发现很多事情都能自动地完成。比如，每六个月亚马逊都会自动寄给我一个新的冰箱水滤器。这样我就不必记着或者出去自己买一个回来了。  

    刚开始就别答应。想避免忘记答应了的帮助请求吗？或者是答应完成的额外工作？最好的方法就是一开始就不要答应。如果你自己的工作已经都超负荷了，就不要再答应接受更多了。这样你就不会让别人失望。　让别人去做。如果你自己不能做，就把合适的工作委派给其他人。尽管如此，要记住当你委派下去任务的时候，你还是要记得跟进。毕竟你委派的只是工作的执行，而不是工作的责任。       

  使用清单。待办事项清单是你最得力的朋友。有它来记住事情，你就不用记着。如果你遵守第三条，那么清单绝对能帮到你很多。当清单使你想起一些忘记的事情，你便知道它奏效了。
来源：沪江网