How many times have you thought of something you need to do, something you need to buy, or someone you need to call, only to forget it a second later? You struggle to remember what it was, to no avail. If you're like most people, you'll remember when you're driving to the dry cleaners a week later. So, what can you do in those instances to recall what you forgot? Believe it or not, there are a few things you can do that may pull that thought back into your conscious mind. First, you can return your visual attention to whatever you were looking at when you had the missing thought. In many cases, visually returning to the scene of the thought tends to summon it back. Others say the best thing to do is not to overthink it. Give yourself time and relax. The thought will likely come back to you, and if it doesn’t, it probably wasn’t all that important anyway. Now when it comes to remembering to call someone or pick up a particular food at the grocery store, the simplest way to try to recall it is to use the ABC method. Start with the first letter of the alphabet and go through to the end. More often than not, when you land on the first initial of the person’s name or the grocery item, it’ll come back to you. Our brains are intricate, complex organs with amazing capabilities, but multitasking often throws us off track. If you’ve lost your train of thought because you're trying to do too many things at one time, clear your head and practice focusing on one thing at a time. Unfortunately, there is no absolute for everyone; you'll just have to figure out which of these methods works best for you.
