If you’re like many of my patients (and myself, on occasion), you probably have walked into a room and promptly forgot why you were there. It’s actually a pretty common problem! In this post, I share three easy steps for remembering why you walked into a room.
Free DIRECT downloads: How to remember WHY you walked into a room (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Outline:
- “I forget why I walked into a room.”
- What is prospective memory?
- 3 easy steps to remember an intended plan.
- Inform your doctor, if bothersome.
- Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts.
- References.
“I forget why I walked into a room”
I hear this a lot. Many of my patients are a little forgetful, and this kind of memory lapse bothers them. As one patient put it just this week, “It’s scary to walk into a room and draw a blank about why I’m there.”
Occasional failures in prospective memory are pretty common. We’ve all forgotten to do something we meant to do.
But frequent lapses in prospective memory can be quite dangerous. Imagine forgetting:
- Turning off the stove.
- Taking prescription medicine.
- Paying the electric bill.
- Going to a doctor’s appointment.
Strong prospective memory skills are important for living independently. A 2018 study found that older adults who have strong prospective memory skills are more likely to be living safely at home with functional independence than older adults with weaker prospective memory skills.
So what is prospective memory?
What is prospective memory?
You’re probably heard of short-term memory and long-term memory. You may even have heard of working memory. Prospective memory isn’t talked about as much, but it’s very important for being independent.
Prospective memory is remembering to do something in the future. In other words, we use prospective memory when we remember to carry out a task at the right place and at the right time. Our success depends on having good:
- Attention.
- Short-term memory.
- Long-term memory (depending how far in the future we’re talking).
- Working memory.
- Executive function skills.
The key point here is that the way we improve prospective memory skills is by strengthening the underlying skills listed above. We can do this with internal or external strategies. An internal strategy is being deliberate about how we think. An external strategy is using something in our environment as a reminder.
For this discussion, I’m going to focus on the problem of getting up to do something but then forgetting what it was. Read on to learn three easy steps to overcome this problem.
3 easy steps to remember why we walked into a room
I adapted these steps from general treatment recommendations from Groot et al. (2002) and Raskin et al. (2018). The three steps for remembering why we walked into a room are:
- Make a clear plan before you move.
- Repeat your plan as you move.
- Remember your plan when you arrive.
I’ll share some easy ideas for how you might implement these steps. Don’t forget to download the handout, which you can find at the top and the bottom of this post!
Make a clear plan before you move
The biggest mistake you can make is to start moving as soon as you get an idea to do something. Chances are, you were in the middle of doing something else. Watching TV, reading, talking, or who-knows-what. The point is, half of your mind is still on that other thing.
So if you start moving before you fully focus on your intent, the chances are high that you’ll walk into a room and promptly forget why you’re there.
Instead, take a moment and think fully on your plan before you move. Here are some ideas for how you can get your plan firmly in mind.
Say your plan aloud. For example, “I’m going to get my glasses” or “I’m going to find my pill bottle and call the pharmacy.”
Visualize yourself carrying out the plan.
Repetition and visualization are internal memory strategies. You can supplement or replace the internal memory strategies with external strategies.
You could jot a word or two down on a notepad. Or make a voice recording on your phone. You could ask your voice assistant to remind you in 5 minutes. Or you could even find a small item related to your plan that you can carry with you to jog your memory.
Repeat your plan as you move
Repetition is a great way to keep information in your short-term memory. It’s why we repeat phone numbers until we’ve dialed.
As you get up and walk, repeat your plan to yourself. You can say it aloud or in your head.
Keep visualizing yourself carrying out the plan.
If you’re using an external memory aid, bring it with you. That means bringing the notepad, your phone, or the related item.
Remember your plan when you arrive
This is the key to the whole endeavor! If you followed the first two steps, then you will likely remember your plan when you arrive at your destination.
But it’s okay if you have a memory lapse! If you get to your destination and draw a blank, it just means you need to take more of the actions from Steps 1 and 2. It can take some practice to use these steps effectively.
Just take a moment and try to hear what you said to yourself when you were sitting down. Can you remember what you imagined yourself doing?
Look for clues. Did you bring a notepad with you? Is there a note on your phone? Are you carrying a small item?
If you have a voice assistant, you could ask for the next reminder.
If all else fails, run down your mental checklist to check for the most important things. Are you hungry or thirsty? Is it time for your pills? Do you have any appointments today? Are you supposed to call someone? Look around for any safety concerns, such as the stove being on.
Inform your doctor, if bothersome
If you’re having problems remembering to do the things you should do, let your doctor know. As with all of the information on my website, this is for educational purposes. While I hope you learn some helpful tips, I encourage you to seek professional help if you have any undiagnosed memory concerns.
As a speech-language pathologist, I feel confident in saying that speech therapy can be quite helpful in dealing with memory problems.
With that out of the way, if you’re curious about prospective memory, check out my post, “How to improve prospective memory.” I describe how scientists think prospective memory works and how therapy works, with references, or check out the related posts below!
Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts
- How to improve prospective memory.
- Improve your working memory with 60 quick exercises.
- How to improve short term memory.
- 5 easy steps to remember names.
References
- Groot, Y. C., Wilson, B. A., Evans, J., & Watson, P. (2002). Prospective memory functioning in people with and without brain injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 8(5), 645–654. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617702801321
- Hering, A., Kliegel, M., Rendell, P., Craik, F., & Rose, N. (2018). Prospective Memory Is a Key Predictor of Functional Independence in Older Adults. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society,24(6), 640-645. doi:10.1017/S1355617718000152
- Raskin, S., Williams, J., & Aiken, E. (2018)A review of prospective memory in individuals with acquired brain injury. The Clinical Neuropsychologist,32(5), 891-921. DOI: 10.1080/13854046.2018.1455898
Free DIRECT downloads: How to remember WHY you walked into a room (patient handout). (Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library.)
Featured image by Jacob Wackerhausen found on Canva.com.
Lisa earned her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland, College Park and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.
She participated in research studies with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the University of Maryland in the areas of aphasia, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, and fluency disorders.
Lisa has been working as a medical speech-language pathologist since 2008. She has a strong passion for evidence-based assessment and therapy, having earned five ASHA Awards for Professional Participation in Continuing Education.
She launched EatSpeakThink.com in June 2018 to help other clinicians be more successful working in home health, as well as to provide strategies and resources to people living with problems eating, speaking, or thinking.
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