a nightmarish scenario came to reality for me yesterday!
so - a month ago, my brother got me an interview for a place that I was really looking forward to starting with. as soon as I got the call for the interview, I mentally noted the date - “28th! let’s do this! I’ll be so prepared!” I spent some time getting some basic notes ready, then went off to easter break to see family before refining my notes and preparation in earnest.
except, it wasn’t on the 28th. it was on the 22nd. which I didn’t find out until the morning of, 15 minutes before it was happening, thanks to my brother messaging me wishing me luck. I called them to apologise and begged them to schedule me in later - they gave me 30 more minutes. I cried the whole way getting there, then bombed the interview. I got my rejection pretty swiftly, and I’m so devastated.
how the hell does this happen?? this isn’t even the first time I’ve conjured fantastical dates for appointments and events! I even had my confirmation email to reference, which I just immediately decided was still set for the date that I believed it was. I’ve always felt upset at how disorganised and absent-minded I am, and it’s hard to not see this as a massive character failing. how can I hope to bounce back from something like this? things like this really make me feel like incapable of operating like a normal human being.
A practice that I find helpful is repeating back what I thought I heard. This gives evidence to the other person you are paying attention and provides an opportunity for immediate corrections if I got something wrong.
I also agree with other people of not depending on your brain. Computers are very good at remembering precisely what you tell them. They also offer reminders for variable amounts of time before. I have had Google calendar events with reminders set for 1 week, 1 day, and 1 hour before a single event.