Could you repeat that, please?

Have you ever found yourself needing to grab something from another room, like your keys, only to arrive and completely forget what you were after? That's a rhetorical question—we're all too familiar with that experience. 

Counselor Charan Ranganath, who leads the Dynamic Memory Lab at U.C. Davis in California, states in his book, “Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold On to What Matters,” (good luck trying to remember that title) that “most of what we encounter is destined to be forgotten — and this is intentional.” 

In contemporary tech terms, "the typical individual absorbs over 74 gigabytes of data daily, which is equivalent to nine DVDs." 

Misplacing your lipstick or struggling to recall the name of an old friend doesn’t necessarily indicate cognitive decline; at our age, it’s simply a part of being human. Various influences, such as menopause, can contribute to these lapses. However, if you find yourself unable to identify a friend or family member, or if you become disoriented in a familiar setting, that is something to take seriously. 

According to specialists, here are several suggestions you can implement in this scenario. 

I've come across the concept of setting boundaries, but I wasn't aware that our memories can establish them for us at times. Ranganath refers to these as "event boundaries," and here's the explanation: When you're in one room searching for your keys and then move into another room, you've altered your usual sensory surroundings—essentially crossing a "boundary." This shift can disrupt your thought process to the point where you forget what you were initially doing. "Whenever there's a change in how you perceive your environment, your brain generates mental markers known as 'event boundaries' that segment your day into clear before-and-after phases, aiding in easier recollection later on." 

Just wait until I share the concept of "event boundaries" with Ronnie. He seems to generate around 50 of them daily, especially when he's on the hunt for his reading glasses or that ballpoint pen he had just a few minutes ago. <