According to the Dictionary, a cue is a “a piece of information or circumstance that aids the memory in retrieving details not recalled spontaneously.” I realized today, this is a great way to describe how I stay organized!
We all need reminders. It’s no secret that we get a lot of input everyday and our brains can handle quite a bit of information, but we need to help it along to recall important details, ideas and tasks.
So, writing things down was probably the original form of reminders, but now we have so many other opportunities! One of my favorite things to do is take screenshots on my phone. ANY time I cannot immediately answer a message, or I need to remember to follow up on something, I take a screenshot to serve as a cue. Whenever I have some free time throughout the day, I go to my screenshot folder and I can be instantly reminded of the task. I also do other things, like send myself an email. If you reference my previous post called emails, it will explain further my process there!
Another example: If you need to get more of an item, like laundry soap, use the empty container as a cue. If you can’t immediately write down laundry soap on your list, put the empty bottle in a space that will remind you later to do it.
I challenge you to start thinking about how you can CUE your brain to be reminded of things undone.
One tip I would add here: Delete cues AS SOON as you handle the task. (throw away the bottle, delete the screenshot) This keeps you from being overwhelmed with unnecessary clutter. For example, if there’s a piece of mail I get that I need to do something with, I leave it out for me to see later. But, if it’s not of immediate interest to me, I shred it RIGHT away.
Bye Clutter!
