Notes to self

I once saw a meme that said, “If it looks stupid but it works, it’s not stupid.” This is a quote I can totally agree with! Sometimes I do things a certain way because of my own “system” for doing things. And one of the reasons why I have a “system” for doing things is because I can be pretty forgetful sometimes! OK, a lot of times. I forget things. I forget faces, too. It happens. That’s just me. So, without a "system" for doing things, I'll either get them wrong, lose information or forget about them entirely!

For this reason of being so forgetful at times, I have one thing that I do which may seem stupid but for me, it works: Leaving “notes to self” on Post-It Notes where I need to see them. Or where I am sure I will see them. Sometimes I will use the whole "note to self" thing as a joke. Like one time I saw a picture of a gigantic spider that lives only in Australia and I was all like, "Note to self: Stay out of Australia!" (Ha!) But I do create real "note to self" notes as a reminder of things because if I don't, I'll probably forget them!

Sometimes, when I am working on a project and I can’t finish it then and there, I’ll leave a “note to self” on where I left off or what I still need to do to finish it. Or, if I have to make an important phone call the next day, I’ll leave a “note to self” at the desk, where I make phone calls, and I know I will see it the next day.

One other type of “note to self” I’ll leave is for things I need to remember to do in the morning that I do not usually do. During the week, I have a morning routine. This morning routine works well for me and my kids, because it allows me time to check on important things (like the kids’ lunch accounts), shower, get dressed and get some coffee before I have to wake the kids up for school. Then it’s other stuff I do in between them and getting both of them to their own school. (They go to different schools so I make two trips!)

Now, I’m not really a morning person. Yes, I get my butt out of bed at 5ish in the morning for the school day, but I’m not really a morning person. I'm more of an afternoon person! So, for this reason, I cannot be relied on to remember things in the morning. If I have to do something different from the morning routine, then I leave a note out as a reminder the night before.

One such note could be “Don’t forget (child’s name).” When I was babysitting for a friend, I often left out notes to remind myself to pick the child up after school on days I had to watch her.

Well, today, I had to pick up one of my daughter’s friends at her house to drive her to the school with us.

I had left a note out for myself reminding me as much and Jesse happened to see the note this morning. He came in to the kitchen, where I sat drinking coffee, and asked about it. (He had just finished getting dressed for school.) He didn’t know about what was going on with my friend (the girl’s mom) so I explained it to him and why I was picking her up this morning. He asked about the note. I then explained that I can’t remember things very well so early in the mornings so I have to leave out notes reminding me of things.

And after I told him that, he started to laugh. He put the note on the coffeemaker (where I usually put the reminder notes!) then pretended to be me as he tiredly walked through the kitchen, read the note, then collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. That made me laugh and I told him, “Well, it works!” He still thought the whole thing was funny.

Well, maybe it is. But so far, leaving out a “note to self” to remind me of things has definitely been helpful in remembering the things that I gotta do!