How To Finally Stop Forgetting Stuff

Beating The Ultimate Nemesis of Productivity with FOC Design

The path to getting important work done is paved with many hindrances.

In my series on smart task management, I discussed some major ones, like trying to be too good, putting things off, and feeling confused about what to do next, all of which concern your mindset.

There are, however, other kinds of challenges. Today, I’ll discuss one of them.

It might seem easy to solve at first, maybe even unimportant. But as you will see, getting it right can be just as impactful and tricky. It can even be, in a sense, the ultimate challenge to your productivity.

Let’s discuss forgetting.

Forgetting

Forgetting haunts all of us. It occurs when something captures our attention, and, as a result, we lose sight of our current intention or object of focus.

Forgetting is very natural. It is so natural that we rarely think about it. Chances are that when you read “forgetting” above, you first thought about something small and inconsequential, like walking into a room and realizing you had forgotten why.

However, forgetting actually impacts us on various scales. Think of the last time you set out to research something important online but ended up going down a rabbit hole of interesting links. In such cases, it often takes a while before we “wake up" to what is happening and can get back to work.

But forgetting doesn’t stop there. Sometimes, it happens on a much grander scale. And the larger the scale that it happens on, the more significant the impact. Forgetting why you walked into that room may waste a few minutes. The rabbit hole may cost you hours. Forget and lose track of a New Year’s Resolution, however, and you may delay progress toward your goal for an entire year.¹

When realizing this, it is much easier to see why something as trivial as forgetting can become the ultimate villain of your accomplishments.

Forgetting is a tricky subject, as the usual tactics don’t work. You may have clear goals, the skills to get there, and an iron will to propel you forward. All of this does not matter if you don’t have a process for quickly redirecting your focus whenever you lose sight of your target.