Two Pieces Of Advice, From Old Sources, For People Having Similar Problems.

You know, I have extreme mental fatigue. I've had it all my life, and I knew it wasn't my fault. (Whether or not it has anything to do with my Schizotypal Personality Disorder, I don't know. My doctors won't tell me yet.) But you know, there is a quote from Shakespeare that might help in the problems I've had lately being on times for things, like doctors' appointments. (Problems now complicated by my age.) Here:

• “Great business must be wrought ere noon.”

From Macbeth. Hecate was saying to the three hags. She meant they would meet Macbeth in the morning. But some thinks it's just good advice. And always reminds me at least. If I have three o'clock appointment with a doctor, start getting ready by 11 AM (strange as that may sound). I think people SPD have problems with being on time, and focus and planning too. And let's face it, memory. Which is why I post it here.

Oh, and if a task seems long tedious. Just remember the song from the 1937 Disney film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs":

• “Just whistle while you work,
And cheerfully, together we can tidy up the place,
So hum a merry tune,
It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace,
And as you sweep the room,
Imagine that the broom is someone that you love,
And soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune.”

Because, they told Snow White, it was more than passing the time, whistling. It made it their fun time, working in that coal mine. Because they saw it as their whistle time. Their together time too. And if the job was very tedious or boring, they imagined the broom was someone the loved. Mind over matter IOW.

Everything in life can be solve by the solution it's all mind over matter. Always remember that .

 

Yeah, and I find quotes, Shakespeare, etc., and songs make good mnemonic devices, to remember important and useful stuff.

I was also sharing today online. In sports medicine, they have a saying. For injuries, it's "Ice First, Heat Later". To remember that, just remember a hockey joke from the 80's. Hockey players say, if you get an injury playing hockey you're all set. The ice is right there. (That's actually a dumb hockey player joke. But I only heard one standup comedian say it. And I don't think anyone would remember.)

Or, if you have to remember, say, two things, put them together in your mind in some way. Some unlikely or unusual way. If you have to get milk and aspirin at the store, imagine someone taking aspirin with some milk. Several times, to make it sink in. Then at the store, you'll ask, What did I need? I remember a man taking aspirin with milk. Why did I think that? Oh. Now I remember.

Or, recently I have found, if you have to remember something a couple of minutes later. Something important that you might forget because you were distracted, sing a catchy tune about that thing. Because people tend to sing songs long after they remember why they started singing them. And then when you get to the place you have to remember that thing, you'll ask yourself. Why am I singing this annoying song. Oh, yeah. It also reminds you you have to do something. When you ask yourself why you are singing a song at all.

 

A Pic To Help Me Time Things. by Jimbee68 posted Sep 30, 2024 at 2:45 AM

You know, this is one of the few places on the internet I would share stuff like I'm about to. But I just made this jpeg (I call them "memes"). Now, I am going to post it in strategic places in my home.

You know, it is important for these new bleach sprays I am using now. Some say wait a minute for the full disinfectant effect. At least one says wait 30 seconds.

Also, I was already using the Adeste for several years now. I have to let my glaucoma drops set in a good long time. But how do you time things with your eyes closed (short of using a timer, of course). As I recently told my doctor, I sing songs. Their lengths are more or less always the same, no matter how you sing them.

 

I came up with something recently. When you have to briefly remember some important number, especially one with several digits. Type it on a nearby calculator real quick. Now, you know. Calculators turn off. In about 5 minutes, I've noticed.

Also, when you have to remember something important. Turn off the oven soon, for example. But again, you are distracted. Sing an unlikely song, one that you don't normally sing. And that kind of has to do with your task. Because you know. You continue singing songs, long after you even remember how you started. Then when you get to another room, you ask. Why am I singing "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter? Oh! I left the oven on.

 

Plus I just thought of something. That song, "Hot Hot Hot", can be your turn-off-the-oven song. Don't even sing it at any other time. (Except parties .)

 

Useful Measurements. by Jimbee68 posted Sep 30, 2024 at 8:02 AM

I still use the Paint program, because I am used to it. They have a feature in it where they replace the background with whatever color you want. But it never seems to work, because they usually end up removing most of the text too. So I just fool around with the tint, color, contrast and other stuff until I get the color I like. Usually my results are mixed.

The above one I was trying to make red, to make it stand out if I posted it anywhere in my house. (You know, at my local library, the default setting on their copies is color, for any image document, and at just ten cents. I told a librarian about it once. She said that was obviously a mistake, implying I was taking advantage of that mistake. Now, all the local libraries have repeated this "mistake', and it has been going on for over a year. They should look into to it. I'm not only one doing this misdeed, you know. There must be thousands of patrons, at almost all the libraries now. Goodness.)

 

I would add, have a song for each task. One song could be your oven song. "Hot Hot Hot". And one could be your "where did I leave the keys song?" And so forth.
And tell yourself, you won't stop singing till the task has been done.

 

In a microwave, every second counts.

On stove. Well, things can burn in about minute, I've noticed, if you're not watching carefully.

A minute, two, even three never seem to make a difference when things cook in an oven. Probably because the heat is evenly distributed.

 

Yes, memory becomes elusive as we age. With that, and being stoned, forget short-term memory!

 

Also (I might as well put this all in one thread). Are you middle aged like me? And do you have problems with stuff falling out of your pockets when you bend over? Then you have to bend over to pick it up? Try investing in a couple of fishing shirts. They, as the name suggests, are meant for fishermen.

Many of them just look like ordinary shirts. But they have strong pockets with zippers or Velcro. And they pretty much solve this problem. Just remember to reseal them whenever you take anything out. You know, after a while it just becomes a habit.

Then you'll never have this problem again. BTW, they are pretty cheap, IOW inexpensive. But I am sure you can get better quality ones if you want. They are mainly casual. And like me, you can just wear them basically everyday.

 

I was thinking just now about remembering things with songs. When you're done with the song, IOW when you finish the last lyric, you sometimes stop without knowing it. But some songs have catchy lines you can't help but repeat.

For example the first lines to "Hot Hot Hot" go (I just looked it up):

"See people rocking,
Hear people chanting, feeling hot, hot, hot,
Keep up this spirit,
Come on, let's do it, feeling hot, hot, hot."

 

I was also talking to a doctor about this next one. Again, remembering important things. One method I think would work would be singing a song to yourself till the task is done. Another is to hold onto something. Because you also keep holding on to things even when you're distracted. There's even a joke from the 70's or 80's about that. A man picks up lingerie panties for his wife in a store. And then he forgets he's holding them and almost leaves the store that way.

 

Also, when the last thing you used from the tap was hot water, there's sometimes a burst of hot water next time. Even if you turn on the cold. So get in the habit of turning on the cold water briefly each time you're done with the faucet.

Yes, habits, rituals, routines all help in remembering things I think.

 

Also, for remembering things, you could just buy an Etch-A-Sketch magnetic doodle drawing board. They sell them at Dollar Tree for a $1.25. So you could get more than one and throw them out when they become worn or dirty. It's a good way of saving on paper, because you just keep reusing it. And if anyone asks you why you have it, explain it to them. It's to remember things you have to quickly jot down. They'll probably think it's a good idea.

 

Also, on remembering, and typing important numbers quickly on a calculator. They turn off after 5 minutes. Unless you keep them active. You could keep pressing the equal sign. That's not always a good idea. Because sometimes that makes the calculator keep readding something, or they think you're doing something else. Or, you could just keep pressing "M+". Or M- if you want to. That will keep adding and substracting the value on the screen to memory. You can't keep doing that all day. But if you think your five minutes are about to expire, you could do it once or twice more.

 

Also, on using calculators to remember things. Once you save a value to memory, most calculators will keep it there even when they shut off. So if you want to keep the number longer than 5 minutes, just save it once to memory. And turn on the calculator again if you want to see the value again. Then that calculator will always have that value in its memory. Until you press MC, or clear memory.

But how long do you want that calculator to hold on to that one number? If you want it to hold for you for a couple of days, that might be practical. And you could have a separate calculator just for that purpose. If you have to remember one important phone number each day, but only one day, do that.

Now you realize, most cheap calculators only have 8 digits. So an average US ten digit phone number wouldn't fit there. But where I live, metro Detroit, people often use just the first digit of an area code for that area code. For example in metro Detroit, the area codes 313, 248 and 734 would be just 3, 2 and 7 respectively.

 

Also, numbers on a calculator could be letters to you. Some people think the numbers 1 and 8 look like I and B. And some people think the numbers 2 or 5, 3, 4 and 7 look like S, E, H and L respectively, upside down that is. That could be your code to yourself for remembering somethings. Or you could have you own personal code.

 

You know I asking a doctor recently how far a person should walk a day. Like I said before, walking around my house is about 1/20th of a mile. She said a half an hour.

Actually I just figured out now that if walk around my house 15 times, that's about a half an hour. I wonder if shouldn't try to do that every day. Or even once a week would probably do some good. Counting off 15 times I do on my fingers. Because I don't know about the rest of you, but I lose count after several times. But if I got a tally counter that might allow me to count up 15 times easily. In fact I just bought some now. (I hope it arrives. Because a lot the stuff I've been buying recently hasn't been arriving it seems.) Then as I did it I could listent to music too. Or I sometimes like singing to myself and reciting long Shakespeare quotes I memorized.

 

Correction: if walk around my house 45 times, that's about half an hour.