If you are the kind of person who files all your important papers under "S" for "Stuff," you may be one of those people who loses everything from her car keys to her track of time. "Disorganization is part of the problem. People who aren't well organized are more likely to forget where they put things," Dr. Adams Price says.

The antidote is the same one you would use to cure a sloppy room: Straighten the place up. You can start here.

Invest in an appointment book. An appointment book can be your central location for information, Monastero says. Use this appointment book for phone numbers, schedules, lists of things to do, appointments, and everything else you need to know. By doing so, you take a lot of stress off your memory. Be careful to divide your book into as few sections as possible. Too many can be overwhelming and defeat your purpose.

Find the best of times. A study at the University of Arizona tested a group of younger people and a group of older people at different times of the day. The researchers found that young people performed better in the evening, while the older group tested better in the morning. It may be that your own circadian rhythms affect how well your memory functions, Dr. Mitchell says. While the study found that the morning was better as people got older, Dr. Mitchell advises you to figure out your own optimal time. "If you have a choice, schedule important things you have to do at that time," he says.

Place things where you will see them. Out of sight, out of mind, right? That's usually the problem, especially in forgetting to take pills, papers, and all sorts of important things. So leave them where you have to see them, Monastero says. Some examples: Put your medications inside your coffee cup, leave documents on your alarm clock. "Make sure that you have to move it to get to something else," she suggests.

Designate special spots. Get into the habit of leaving objects in designated spots. Always keep your car keys on the table by the door; always leave your reading glasses on your nightstand. Monastero also suggests appointing a special location for the next day's work materials. "Have everything for the next day gathered together and put in a central spot the night before. That way, when the morning comes, you don't have to think about where you put things or what you have to do that day," she says.

Color your world. Bright colors help you find objects you often lose. Put your keys on colorful, large key chains. Place a bright colored string around your reading glasses. With bright colors screaming at you, you won't have to work as hard to find lost items, Monastero says.

Make little ones out of big ones. A big project or an outrageous amount of material to remember can overwhelm you. That sinking feeling leads you to procrastination, which means that you end up doing an awful lot of work at the last moment and inevitably you forget something. Instead of getting lost in the big picture, break up a large project into smaller discrete tasks, Monastero says. Tackle each task one at a time and complete it. This makes a project more manageable and less overpowering.

Do it now. If behavior guru and Harvard educator B. F. Skinner heard it was going to rain, he got up right then and put the umbrella up against the door so that he couldn't miss it, says Dr. Mitchell. The best way to not forget something is to act upon it as soon as possible, he says.

Make lists. Put information on paper. It takes a load off your mind when it comes to remembering. Lists also force you to organize your ideas. "Even if you forget the list, you took the time to compose your thoughts, which will help you in trying to retrieve the information," Dr. Wagster says.