Forgetting Even the Grocery List

I am ashamed to even admit this lame fact: At the age of 20 years old, I need a grocery list. I find it disturbing that at this young age I cannot remember the few items on my grocery list for a week at a time. As I run out of the necessities (i.e. bread, milk, cereal, and shampoo) I always attempt to instantly jot the note down on my “handy dandy little note cards” as I like to call them. Without these little note cards I would forget so many things in my life; however, there is a problem with these life savers. The problem: I sometimes even forget to grab the note card as I head out the door in a rush to the grocery store.

So, as I am on my way I try to remember the items I jotted down. Even though this often results in retrieval failure, I can retrieve a few items typically. The way I try to retrieve information is by thinking through the processes of my everyday routine. I try to think about my breakfast – do I have milk? Acknowledging milk usually reminds me of cereal or orange juice. In my mind, I consider these items to have strong trace strengths. I continue through this process until I can retrieve the information I believe I had on my list. Once in the store, I can usually recognize the remaining items, or so I believe. Seeing bananas typically jogs my memory that I was out of bananas and apples. My memory is jogged throughout the store until finally I have a cart full. I then arrive at the checkout and return home to find my list posted on the refrigerator. The list will pose items that will then be transferred to a new list and the process unfailingly begins again.