
Does this scenario feel at all familiar to you? I know I keep forgetting lots of things, and am carrying a notebook or diary around much more now than I used to. In fact, if I’m supposed to be somewhere and it isn’t in the diary, chances are I won’t be there. And I’m nowhere near 80 … yet!
Write it down
An 80-year-old couple were worried because they kept forgetting things all the time. The doctor assured them there was nothing seriously wrong except old age, and suggested they carry a notebook and write things down so they wouldn’t forget.
Several days later, the old man got up to go to the kitchen. His wife said, “Dear, get me a bowl of ice cream while you’re up.”
“Okay,” he said.
“…and put some chocolate syrup on it and a few cherries, too,” she added. “You’d better write all this down.”
“I won’t forget!” he said.
Twenty minutes later he came back into the room and handed his wife a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She glared at him. “Now, I told you to write it down! I knew you’d forget.”
“What did I forget?” he asked.
She replied, “My toast!”






Andrew Gosden (now 18) has been missing from his Doncaster home since 14 September 2007. The search continues.
Ha ha ha! That’s great.
The problem with writing things down in a planner or calendar is that I forget to look at it every day or I lose it entirely.
That is, unfortunately, just what I keep doing too. I’ve just ordered myself a smaller diary — 18 month Moleskine — rather than my largish filofax, in the hopes that being able to slip it into a pocket will make it more readily accessible. But I won’t hold my breath!