You Can Get Me on My Cellphone

The wonder of the cellphone - back in the '80s, nobody would have guessed at the extent of their use twenty five years later. Yet their effects are so wide-ranging! One of the many things they have helped with is my TBI recovery.

Since my accident, my short-term memory hasn't been bad. With enough time, I do still recall nearly everything. When the pressure's on, though, and I need to remember things quickly or at the right time, it's a different story. Things can just slip through the net and I forget them. Early on in my recovery, though, my OT gave me some excellent advice - get a decent cellphone!

Obviously, being in touch for those things that I forget, before suddenly remembering, is awesome. The benefits of having a cellphone hardly stop there, though. I can set myself reminders to do stuff at the right time. My cellphone will diligently ring to let me know. I can write myself to do lists - very handy for shopping lists and that sort of thing. Their use as a memory aid for those recovering from a TBI has been known for sometime.

I found that a mobile phone was limited by how good I was at using it. Sure, I learned how to operate it well, but, for instance, after having my night-before reminder go off, I'd forget to set it to go again to remind me at the right time the next day. Often, when I get something to remember, I wonder should I put it in to my phone or do I back myself to remember it without. When I don't enter it, I invariably find that, indeed, I should have put it in my phone.

To those who worry that technology is taking over our lives I say, if only they could invent technology that good! :-)

Cheers,
Mike