DESPERATE. Help me become more organised

[FuglyDucking]

I am sick of struggling to be organised. I suck at getting to places on time for the simple reason that 9 times out of 10 I've forgotten I need to be there. I tried a diary which worked for all of about a week, because I then I forgot to check it.

What can I do to help my organisation skills?

ALL suggestions welcomed as this is driving me nuts!

some of us are born organised and some of us arn't
you my dear were not sorry
i use my dairy everyday would be useless without it, i also set my clocks/watch 10mins fast so i'm always early (hate being late)

My watch is set 10mins fast which is a god send when I remember when and where i'm supposed to be

i'm laughing
not at you with you your funny

I have a calender on the fridge with a section for each of us, but yes I still forget to check it, but it is easier as I see it when I am getting my breakfast.

I also have my phone set to beep with reminders like, Monday at 8:30 Milk money, reminders for cubs, dancing etc etc, I set it to give me enough time to get ready. I can set it to go off the same time every day, week or month. Not the first time I have been sitting there oblivious to the fact it is cub night or whatever.

yes but ducky phone would be flat!!!!!!!!

Thats true too mine is never charged or on me or has credit.

I keep meaning to set up the hotmail calender thing but I never remember, I am on line every night so it would tell me what I was doing tomorrow I suppose.

make lists ,lists,lists!

lists are all very well if your can remember to look at them, is there a name for this sort of memory problem as I would love to have a name for it when people slag me off.

I also have my MIL preprogrammed to phone me to remind me about all sorts of stuff too.

Skribble.. Glad to have a fellow sufferer!!!

I am thinking that a wall planner in a prominent place might help me remember events? The phone reminder sounds good, except my phone won't let me do it!!! GRRRR

FD

I've also got a family organiser calendar with a column for each of us and a spare for birthdays etc. NOTHING happens unless it's on the calendar (have shot myself in the foot a couple of times with this rule but learnt the lesson and DH has learnt that he has to consider what happens to the kids when he goes out and that is priceless.) If you book yourself out, you book your partner in on his column and vice versa. He is now trained to phone me to check it and write things in for him as it lives in the hall and MUST NEVER BE MOVED. You can make your own using Word or Excel.
I guess it also helps to look at your do-list for the day and visualise the whole day so you can plan for tea, snacks, nappies, bored small children etc - maybe postpone something non-urgent that might throw everything out of sync and then make you feel like a failure. I'm an intrinsically idle person so I do a bit of planning to ensure no rushing (prefer to potter) and plenty of opportunities for sitting down and drinking tea. If you aim too high you'll feel crap even if you've managed to achieve it all in one day - best not set yourself up for a fall, learn to delegate or just say no to things that will make you feel rushed. I hate that sicky guilt feeling when I've let someone down because I've taken on too much.

I've a white board on the wall in the utility room by the door like this -updated each week for different appointments but also has things like remember libary book / tennis racket / football kit etc so I can do a quick check in the morning.