It's a short trip to Crazy Town

I used to pride myself on having a good memory. I never forgot a face. I could accurately identify every unlabeled baby picture in my mother's photo albums box of family photos. I could sit in a college class, pay decent attention and pull out a B without ever cracking a book.

And then I hit the real world. And got a job that completely fried my brain. The more responsibility I gained, the more completely useless information I was required to store in my increasingly overtaxed brain.

So now, while I still have an excellent memory, much of it is useless. I can recite every policy and procedure my old company had for the credit card program. I can parse out a VIN for you and tell you exactly what each section means, down to where your vehicle was built. I can recall the name of every vendor I did business with. during my 4.5 years there

But it seems I have no room left for any new information. You know, like the names of co-workers or vendors I presently work with. Or the fact that our anniversary is tomorrow and I completely forgot until yesterday.

I have always been a master list maker, but now I need lists of my lists. I live in a world populated by calendars, To Do lists and bright orange sticky notes. If I don't write it down, I will forget. I keep a notepad by my bed so I can write down all the things I think of while I'm lying there desperately trying to turn off my brain and sleep. I tote my To Do list with me practically everywhere I go.

My latest forget-me-not inspiration? My Palm Pre. Every time I think of something I want to add to my To Do list, I email it to myself. My inbox is full of notes to self: blog post ideas, emails I need to send, appointments I need to make, books I want to read.

Am I the only one who wishes she had a delete file function in her brain? What tricks do you use to keep yourself from losing your mind?