First off, if you don't know what a mnemonic is, it's just a fancy way of saying, "something that helps you remember stuff." I would have just used that as this post's title, but I got lazy, and I didn't want to type any more characters than I absolutely had to.
Regardless, everyone has their own little ways of remembering things. Sometimes it's as simple as writing yourself a note, while other times technology can help (e.g., put a reminder in your phone). Either way, when it comes to remembering certain things, there are little tricks that can help every one. In my case, I have discovered that physically touching things can help. And if you know me at all, you can already tell that this is going to lead to some manner of amusement.
I actually discovered this by accident. See, I'm not the biggest fan of sitting on my wallet when I'm driving. It's not that thick a wallet, but I have a long enough commute that it can be slightly annoying. So, I got in to the habit of putting my wallet in my jacket side pocket or in one of those open areas in the car's paneling. However, I would occasionally forget to grab my wallet as I started leaving the car, and I would have to turn around and walk back to the car to retrieve it. It happened frequently enough that I got in to the habit of checking my back pocket to make sure I had my wallet before I exited the car.
Well, my phone and keys are almost as important to my daily life as my wallet, so I soon realized that I should make sure I had those on my person, too. So, fairly soon, I was giving myself a quick pat down whenever I left the office or when I got out of the car. It wasn't anything obscene or anything, just a quick tap on my two front pockets and one of my back pockets to make sure that the items were in their expected places. It saved me a few times, too, since I was about to do something like forget my phone in the office. It became fairly common, and to this day, I will still tap my pockets to make sure I have those items.
If that had been all, I probably wouldn't have written this post. However, a short while ago, one of the trainers at the gym was telling me that I needed to be more diligent about stretching. I'll be honest, stretching has always been one of those things that I've been sloppy about. I'd do it, but very haphazardly. It wasn't a routine for me, and I certainly didn't make a point of stretching on a daily basis. Still, she pointed that out that I am "getting old," and she admonished me that I needed to stop being lazy. Okay, okay, fine.
The clever ones among you probably already know where this is going: I needed to get in to the habit of stretching, and physical touch works as a good reminder for me. I also needed to make sure that I stretched several muscles, not just few that I'd focused on during that gym session. Knowing all this, I made a quick mnemonic for myself; I tapped every muscle I needed to stretch, so that I would remember to stretch it. It's not obscene, and it happens fairly quickly. Still, it looks a tiny bit like one of those stepping routines you'll see fraternity guys do. I am a little terrified that one day someone is going to look over right when I'm in the middle of doing this and just straight up laugh at me.
What's going to make this even more interesting is that as I get better at it all, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to add new stretches to the list. At some point, I may very well have a stepping routine on my hands, all so that I age gracefully. This whole getting old thing sure is interesting sometimes.
Regardless, everyone has their own little ways of remembering things. Sometimes it's as simple as writing yourself a note, while other times technology can help (e.g., put a reminder in your phone). Either way, when it comes to remembering certain things, there are little tricks that can help every one. In my case, I have discovered that physically touching things can help. And if you know me at all, you can already tell that this is going to lead to some manner of amusement.
I actually discovered this by accident. See, I'm not the biggest fan of sitting on my wallet when I'm driving. It's not that thick a wallet, but I have a long enough commute that it can be slightly annoying. So, I got in to the habit of putting my wallet in my jacket side pocket or in one of those open areas in the car's paneling. However, I would occasionally forget to grab my wallet as I started leaving the car, and I would have to turn around and walk back to the car to retrieve it. It happened frequently enough that I got in to the habit of checking my back pocket to make sure I had my wallet before I exited the car.
Well, my phone and keys are almost as important to my daily life as my wallet, so I soon realized that I should make sure I had those on my person, too. So, fairly soon, I was giving myself a quick pat down whenever I left the office or when I got out of the car. It wasn't anything obscene or anything, just a quick tap on my two front pockets and one of my back pockets to make sure that the items were in their expected places. It saved me a few times, too, since I was about to do something like forget my phone in the office. It became fairly common, and to this day, I will still tap my pockets to make sure I have those items.
If that had been all, I probably wouldn't have written this post. However, a short while ago, one of the trainers at the gym was telling me that I needed to be more diligent about stretching. I'll be honest, stretching has always been one of those things that I've been sloppy about. I'd do it, but very haphazardly. It wasn't a routine for me, and I certainly didn't make a point of stretching on a daily basis. Still, she pointed that out that I am "getting old," and she admonished me that I needed to stop being lazy. Okay, okay, fine.
The clever ones among you probably already know where this is going: I needed to get in to the habit of stretching, and physical touch works as a good reminder for me. I also needed to make sure that I stretched several muscles, not just few that I'd focused on during that gym session. Knowing all this, I made a quick mnemonic for myself; I tapped every muscle I needed to stretch, so that I would remember to stretch it. It's not obscene, and it happens fairly quickly. Still, it looks a tiny bit like one of those stepping routines you'll see fraternity guys do. I am a little terrified that one day someone is going to look over right when I'm in the middle of doing this and just straight up laugh at me.
What's going to make this even more interesting is that as I get better at it all, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to add new stretches to the list. At some point, I may very well have a stepping routine on my hands, all so that I age gracefully. This whole getting old thing sure is interesting sometimes.
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