How to Get Better at Remembering to Remember

Many effective techniques can boost prospective memory.

Reviewed by Davia Sills

Key points

• Prospective memory is remembering to do an intended action at a future time.
• Some of the most frustrating moments of the day are failures of prospective memory.
• Internal and external cues can help people remember to remember.

Much of your memory is retrospective or trying to recall information that you learned: What is that guy’s name? Who was president in 1958? What’s my password?

Another crucial type of memory is prospective: remembering to remember. You rely on prospective memory when you remember to:

• Stop at the pharmacy on your way home
• Call your credit card during business hours
• Change over the laundry when it’s done
• Grab your work keys on the way out of the house
• Take your medication at the right time

Failures of prospective memory can be especially frustrating facepalm moments because you did remember at one point. We’ve all told ourselves, “Don’t forget ___!” only to have it slip our minds at the crucial time. For example, we remember we need shampoo every time we’re in the shower but forget it when we’re at the store.

Fortunately, there are ways to boost prospective memory. The key is to give yourself cues that will activate the necessary memory at the right time. The techniques that have been shown to work fall into two categories: internal and external.

Internal Techniques

These approaches address your mental processes directly, helping the activity come to mind when you need it to.

Implementation Intention: Specify when and where you will do the intended activity. For example, say to yourself, “If I turn onto Lancaster Avenue from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., then I will pull into the CVS pharmacy and pick up my prescription” (Brom & Kliegel, 2014). For greater effect, write it down and say it aloud a few times. This exercise signals your brain that the intended task is important and builds an association between the if condition and the then that follows (Chen et al., 2015).

Imaginal Action: Practice seeing yourself completing the task at the time you’ll need to. For example, you could imagine yourself walking to the stationery section of the store and picking out a card when you’re trying to remember to buy a Mother’s Day card (Insel et al., 2016).

Performance Predictions: Ask yourself how likely you are to remember that you have a task to do, remember the specific task, and do the task at the opportune moment. As with implementation intention, performance predictions underscore the importance of the task, which leads to greater vigilance when it needs to be performed (Meier et al., 2011).

Build a Routine: For activities that are repeated, build a consistent routine. The consistency will create strong cues to trigger the intended action. For example, I always put in my eyedrops at night as I’m heading to bed; it feels like something is missing if I skip it.

Repeated Encoding: Remind yourself multiple times of the action you plan to take (Altgassen et al., 2017), such as telling yourself to get off the train at the stop before your normal one because you’re meeting a friend. As with other internal techniques, repeated encoding can strengthen the mental associations you have between an action and the appropriate time and place.

External Techniques

The beauty of external techniques is that they don’t depend on your raw memory. As such, they can serve as essential support for when you would otherwise forget.

Cues: Place a reminder where you’re sure to see it. For example, if you need to take medication in the morning, place the pill bottle on the table where you’ll eat your breakfast (Zogg et al., 2012). Or, if you want to use a coupon at the grocery store, keep it with your method of payment so you won’t miss it.

Allies: Ask a friend or loved one to prompt you if you forget. Take care not to get mad at them if it slips their mind, of course; it won’t help the relationship, and it’s unfair to expect them to remember your thing if you yourself forget it!

Apps: Use technology to help you remember (Scullin et al., 2022). Set an alarm on your phone (with a label so you’ll remember what it’s for), or download an app specifically designed to assist your memory. Some even have geolocation features that will prompt an activity at a specific location, such as alerting you at Target to grab some dishwasher gel packs.

The most reliable approach is to use multiple systems in case one fails. If your alarm malfunctions, for example, your mental training will jog your memory; if you forget, an external trigger will remind you.