Idiot Proofing

While my memory is better than average, I still find there are things in my life that fall through the cracks. Thus I am constantly looking for ways to idiot proof my life. The biggest thing I can point to is the half-dozen or more Chapsticks I own and have placed in coat pockets, bags, drawer at work, and by my bed; because Chapstick is the sort of thing that when you want it, you want it NOW.

I also try to be good about where I put my keys and wallet. They have a "home" and my life is much better when I put them there, as opposed to somewhere random. There's nothing like it being a minute past when you want to leave to catch the bus to work and you are frantically running through the apartment hunting for keys.

One thing I've done that helps with the being good about what I do is being more compassionate to my brain. I noticed that at those moments of running around frantically that I could think quite hurtful things about my brain, so I decided to stop doing that and start adding praise when it remembered something terribly useful. Especially when it remembers in a timely fashion. (I do still wonder why, when it remembers something beyond the point of usefulness, it couldn't have remembered earlier, it is more in a pondering sort of way, rather than an angry sort of way.)

A lot of it is just paying attention, and it is best to have your brain on your side for that.