Have you ever walked into a room, stopped, and thought, “Why did I come in here?” Or I come back from a room having done a half dozen things, but then realizing you didn’t do the one thing you had gone to do. If you have, then welcome to my life. Except it doesn’t just happen when I come into a room, it can happen in the middle of a conversation…when I’m the one talking. One second I’m explaining something, and the next, I have completely forgotten what I was even talking about.

Short-term memory is something that everyone can struggle with from time to time. But for those with ADHD, it is an every day struggle. For instance, say you’re looking at someone’s phone number in one place, and trying to type it in at another place. Easy right! Yeah, no. I have to flip back and forth between the two locations typing a bit at a time. 317 … flip … 555 … flip … 1234 … flip, did I get it right? Flip … nope, let’s try that again. I’ve found that I can keep about 4-5 digits in my head at any given time, as long as nothing else is occupying that space, or I don’t see or hear something distracting. so filling out forms for the doctor can be maddening.

So when you walk in a room and forget what you came in for, or in a conversation and forget what you’re saying, what do you do? Well for me, I have to step back in time bit by bit until I hit upon what it was that I was looking for. Or you hope the person you’re talking to was paying enough attention to help you with that step back.

Other things that I have to do is use apps or plain old paper to help remember things and todo’s. If I don’t do it immediately, chances are I won’t remember later. The whole, “Well if it’s important, you’ll remember it later” isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes I remember, but most times I don’t. I’m told that once I’m one meds that it will get better, but I’ll have to wait another month for that.

So what are some of the things that you have done to help with short-term memory issues? I’d really like to know. Until next time.