1.
Start using a calendar. You can purchase a paper
calendar and hang it in your room and teach yourself to look at it every day,
making and leaving notes accordingly.
2.
Put the medication close to something you need
to deal with on a daily basis anyway. For example, if you take your medication
in the morning, make sure that before going to bed at night, you place it next
to the coffee pot, if you make coffee in the morning.
3.
Most cell phones have an alarm function that
allows you to set a “daily” alarm time where it rings. If you have a
smartphone like a Blackberry, download an app like ‘Multi Alarm’. Choose a tone
that will remind you that you need to take your medicine.
4.
If you do not own a cell phone, you might set
your alarm clock to go off at a particular time each day for the same effect.
Another alternative is to buy a digital watch and set the alarm to go off as
many times per day as you need to take medication. As soon as the alarm goes
off, immediately take your medication to reinforce the habit. Saying “Oh,
I’ll do it in a few minutes” can lead to repeated forgetfulness and defeat
the purpose of having an alarm.
5.
Pre-sorting the pills into a plastic container
designed for this purpose (a pill box or medicine box) is another way to avoid
taking the same medication twice by accident. If that compartment is empty, you
know you took the meds. Pill sorters come in different sizes and different colours.
Aim to have enough to sort two weeks of meds at a time.
6.
Take some of your medicine and keep it in a
place other than your household, such as your office at work or in your bag
that you carry with you. If you happen to forget to take your medicine in the
morning, you can easily access your medicine at work. Be mindful of your
medicine’s storing conditions, especially if you plan to keep your pills in
your car’s glove box on a hot summer day.
7.
Get another person to remind you. Have a friend
or loved one to remind you to take your medicine, or to ask you if you
remembered to take your medicine.
8.
Get a program/service to remind you. There are a
couple of different medication reminder programs that you can use on your PDA
to help. Additionally, there is one service that will send you SMS text
messages to your cell phone when it is time to take your pills.