I've done it again!

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I've been on a waiting list for grievance counselling for so long now that it completely went out of my head, and they phoned me last week on the date they said they would - only for me to be confused because it had completely gone out of my head. I couldn't talk because I had to get to work (my hours have changed since I first heard from them), so they rescheduled a phonecall for a week later, which I promised I'd remember.

But, lo and behold, I forgot again and I woke up to 3 missed calls. They call on a private number and my phone has a setting activated where if the phone doesn't recognise a number it doesn't make a sound when it rings, to stop spam phonecalls from invading my privacy. I can't call back because it's a private number and their emails don't seem to be anywhere in my email inbox or junk mail (actually my emails aren't showing up properly because it wants me to upgrade to premium but I can't afford to pay any more money at the moment).

Ugh, my memory seems to be getting worse. Is this just ADHD or early onset of dementia? I'm sure I never used to be this forgetful.

This has nothing to do with dementia----you just overslept. There could be an element of ADHD in this.

All you can do is reschedule.

I'm very dependent on schedule reminder alarms for that kind of thing. I simply can't trust my brain to remember to do anything without that kind of help. It's usually OK if it's a thing I see as extremely important and urgent (in which case I remain preoccupied with the matter till it's done, at the expense of everything else in my life), but once my mind's gone off a future task, it's not very likely to get back to it in time. But I'm intensely aware of the problem, so these days I use scheduled reminders and bleeping timers by default. As I don't like the sudden shock of a timer going off, or the demand to immediately switch my attention from what I'm doing, I've created a special alarm sound which is a reasonably easy-on-the-ear bell that starts quiet, gradually gets louder and louder, then fades to silence and does it all again a couple of minutes later.

It's a shame that institutions don't stick to their official phone numbers when they call their clients. Blocking all numbers I've not assigned as trusted is pretty much the only effective way I know of to keep cold-callers off my back, and it would work fine if not for that. You'd think that would be more widely understood and catered for, but no. I guess all that can be done is to clearly warn the service provider, "If you try to call me on a private number I've not authorized as trusted, it won't get through." But I doubt they'd bother to take that on board. It's a time-and-motion thing. Most organisations won't take the trouble to deal with individual nuances like that. One size must fit all, even when it obviously doesn't. Unless they need you more than you need them.

Bobby Vinton had a song, "There, I've said it again!"

I have a whiteboard that I write important things on so I won't forget. It's in my room. I even write "today" the previous night sometimes just in case. I find that I don't like to use my phone to set reminders.

I've tried setting myself reminders on my phone but I don't know how to do it, it's too complicated. I don't think I'll look at the calendar and I'll probably misplace a note, and we don't have a clipboard or anything (which is something I might consider buying in the near future).

I'm just so terrible at remembering these things. It would be easier if I actually had an appointment where I go to them in person, because that way it seems to stick in my head. I'll have to get my boyfriend to remind me the night before to set my alarm early so that I'll be awake by the time they're due to call (which is scheduled earlier than the time I usually set my alarm to wake up).

I've got so many appointments that I need to arrange; eye doctor to get contact lenses, blood test, haircut, and more. Ugh, so many things.