Aimless wrote:
Recently I thought of something to add to a grocery list, crossed the room to get the list and had forgotten what I was going to write down by then. That quick. My mind is like a steel sieve.
Happens to me all the time, though recently I've made some progress....I just try to calm down and see if the missing element returns to consciousness via a little thought - mentally retracing my steps, pondering what it might have been, that kind of thing. And I strongly suspect the root problem is not memory but attention: usually I seem to forget stuff because I didn't really focus my attention on it first....but getting into the habit of forming a clear, vivid picture of the "item-at-risk" is kind of difficult, because I never seem aware in advance that I'm about to take my attention off it - I think of something, then I get distracted (often by my own non-related thoughts), and the item vanishes

To make real progress I'll need to learn to recognise those "at risk" moments.
The worst example is when I'm playing my guitar, and I'll put down my plectrum so I can sort out something else, then I can't remember putting the plectrum down. If only I could catch that moment when I put it down, and just say to myself, "that's where I've put it," then I'm sure I'd remember, but it's just like a reflex action, I'm not aware of it till it's too late.