Succeeding at Work After a Mild Brain Injury:
Empowering Memory Strategies for Success During Healing
Why memorize something when you can use external tools to remember it?
Early in my brain injury recovery, I couldn’t make coffee and toast at the same time. Often, I would leave my toasted bread in the toaster as I sat, hungry, on my couch with my cup of coffee. Sometimes, unable to find my coffee mug, I would give up and make a new cup. My husband was baffled as to why there was cold, dried-up bread in the toaster and half-filled coffee mugs left around the house.
Fortunately, my memory improved, but it remained spotty when I returned to work. If you’ve noticed your own memory is unreliable after a brain injury, please know you’re not alone.
Remembering and retaining information is difficult when your brain is healing. Memory requires focus, attention, and energy, resources your brain may not have the capacity to reliably provide.
A beautiful scarecrow made of a rainbow of ribbons.
Memory relies on your brain to file, sort, and retrieve information that has been learned. Your brain injury may have disrupted or slowed these processes.
Remembering routines, steps in a process, appointments, to-do items, and conversations is something you may have taken for granted. Losing this cognitive function can be understandably frustrating, bewildering, and depressing.
External memory tools at work are essential supports for your recovering brain.
Use a calendar to track events, meetings, and projects. I recommend a month-at-a-glance, 8x11 paper calendar. Paper calendars do not emit irritating light, and writing in them supports neuroplasticity.
Organize hard-to-remember work information in a three-ring binder with color-coded tabs. If possible, create a binder for each job category. Compile relevant emails, articles, and notes for each duty. This way, all related information is available for reference. Paper reminders reduce exposure to irritating screen light and visual tracking on a computer.
Ask for emails. When sidetracked by a hallway request, ask the person to send you an email or Teams message as a reminder. It will also allow you time to think, research, and provide the solution or answer that person was seeking from you.
Use a paper address book. A paper address book serves as a handy, portable pocket-size file cabinet with lettered tabs for quick reference. I would use an address book as my external memory aid to remember seldom-used names or tricky words that I couldn’t remember how to spell.
Use note cards to aid your short-term memory. Often, after reviewing my patients’ charts, I would wind my way through the department full of visual distractions and conversations. By the time I reached my patient’s room, I would forget some of the things I wanted to remember. So, I started to use note cards to support my memory. As I entered my patient’s room, I could pull out my note card and, with a quick glance, recall details such as my patient’s caregiver’s name, the room number where my patient was waiting, and questions I didn’t want to forget to ask.
Another delightful scarecrow found at the Cambria Scarecrow Festival
On occasion, a patient would ask, Why not use my smartphone as a memory aid. I recommend adopting a low-tech approach to support strategies early in your recovery.
Paper memory tools are gentler on the eyes. A media device’s light can trigger headaches, eyestrain, and fatigue in a healing brain.
Scrolling or tracking information on devices can exacerbate symptoms of brain injury, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue.
Writing on paper supports neuroplasticity—the rewiring of brain connections. New connections can replace those lost to a brain injury.
Sometimes, it’s inappropriate to use your smartphone at work. People are more accepting if you use a note card, binder, or small book in conversation; using a phone or looking at a computer may seem like you are distracted and not invested in the conversation.
If you need help with your short-term memory, ask for a referral to a speech therapist from your general practitioner. A speech therapist can assess your memory and recommend personalized external memory tools and exercises to assist your memory as your brain heals.
I eventually relied less on paper aids and more on digital tools as my memory and screen tolerance improved. As your symptoms improve, you’ll be able to use smart devices to support your memory.
Take care, get better, get stronger,
Kelly Tuttle
Brain-Loving Advocate
P.S. As a brain injury survivor, I understand the challenges of reintegration into the workforce. If you’re also a survivor looking to return to work, please visit my website for my online program: Return to Work and Life After a Brain Injury.
You can also find my book, After the Crash: How to Keep Your Job, Stay in School, and Live Life After a Brain Injury, and additional resources.
My book, After the Crash, is also on Audible.
My book, After the Crash: How to Keep Your Job, Stay in School, and Live Life After a Brain Injury, can be found on Amazon or at your favorite independent bookstore
I created a journal just for you! Check out My Brain Injury Recovery Journal