It's one of those things that you can be certain will happen with the passage of time -- Forgetting. I am sure that there are some of you reading this that are wondering "When is June going to get back to me with __________?" If it has been "more than a minute" (a phrase I picked up from one of my kids that has become a new fave), it is quite possible that I have forgotten. I define "more than a minute" as more than three days since the question or request came in. Be assured that if it has been more than a minute, you should feel very comfortable sending me another message inquiring as to whether or not I have looked at, read, reviewed, thought about or otherwise had any contact with your request. One of the other reasons I recommend this plan of action is that I am sometimes tormented by pc gremlins and not everything that is sent to me gets to me in a timely manner. You may think tormented is a strong word, but given our dependence on technology (and particularly those extensions of our fingers called the keyboard) not receiving e-mails truly does feel like torment!
Unfortunately, I can't lay all of my forgetting at the feet of the pc gremlins (do gremlins have feet?). Forgetting also comes with not only advancing age, but the fact that we all are juggling lots and lots of balls in the air. While this juggling is one of the things that makes life fun, it is also bound to lead to forgetting something. For example, I realize in my work day juggling, I have not had one on one lunch with any of the new staff members who have joined our group. I will be rectifying that soon. I also realize in my work day juggling that I owe a brief description on opportunities for staff to work on different projects. Again, it's on the way. Finally, I realize in my work day juggling that I have failed to reserve a car when I take the youngest daughter back to college next week. Okay, so that is not really related to work, but it is something that I need to not forget.
At a former place of employment, went to a seminar about a concept called Mindsweeping. It's where you take time each day to list all the stuff that is on your mind in no particular order. You then refer to that list a few times each day and cross off the things that you have done. It actually works and perhaps it is a tool that might be helpful once again. Of course, if I were writing that list at this very moment, the first thing I would write is Today is Friday the 13th -- which I almost forgot.
