Maybe some of you have already stumbled on this trick. I don’t even know how I thought of it, but ever since I did, it’s helped me remember something just before I’ve fallen asleep without having to write it down.

I’ve heard from several different sources that you should always keep a pad of paper and a pen near your bed. It seems inevitable that just before you fall asleep, you have a great idea or the solution to a particularly knotty problem. The common school of thought is that the creative side of our brain can produce creative thought when the brain is finally relaxed.

At any rate, there have been many times when I am in bed, almost ready to fall asleep when I think of one more “to do” item. I’m all about my task list and it’s a bit irritating to think of one more thing to do just before I fall asleep. However, it isn’t a Big Idea that has landed in my head. Just something important I want to do the next day.

My weird trick

So here’s what I do.

I take an item from my night table and as I grab it and put it on the floor next to my bed (out of reach from my feet when I get out of bed the next morning), I firmly place in my mind the task I want to do.

It could be to email someone an item, post something on a message board, or to check something on the Internet. Whatever it is, I think on it very specifically for a few seconds and then lay the object on the floor.

Before, I used a small nightlight that I used with my regular Kindle. But now since I have a Kindle Fire (and no need for the nightlight), I placed the Kindle Fire on the floor.

It works.

Why are my keys on the floor? Oh, yeah…

When I wake up in the morning and see an object on the floor that shouldn’t be there, I remember that I put it there to help me remember… what? Why did I put it there, again? Oh, right! Now I remember!

I know it may sound strange or even a small thing to do, but anything that helps me remember something, especially when I’m too lazy to get out of bed and write it down, gets my vote of appreciation.

Test it out and see if it works for you. I was surprised that last night, I actually had two tasks to remember and when I awoke this morning, I immediately remembered the second thought. But I did not immediately remember the first task I wanted to complete this morning.

Within a few minutes, though, I did. It was to post a question on a message board.

And the second thought I had before going to sleep that I immediately remembered this morning?

To write a post on this “weird trick.”

So there you go. :-)