How to help a fuzzy brain.

I posted this on one of the forums I frequent, one for people with chronic pain.  I was curious what other people use to overcome “fibro fog”, the cognitive/memory problems that come along with fibromyalgia.  I also shared my list of helpful items and software. No, I don’t get paid by any of these people, these are genuine endorsements of stuff I use every day.

It’s been really hard for me when I can’t remember anything on my grocery list, or forget to pay bills. I spend a lot of time on my computer, and I’ve found a few tools that really help.

1. A smartphone: I have an Android phone (HTC Eris), but an iPhone will work for these tools as well. Cost: Depends on your carrier, but I pay $30 extra a month for the data service. Worth. Every. Penny.
2. Evernote: I have this on my computer, AND on my phone. I can keep notes, grocery lists, take pictures of things I need to remember or describe, and then I can access them from anywhere I have access to a computer. Must have. Free, unless you need more storage. I don’t need more yet.
3. PageOne Personal Productivity Assistant: This is a website that you can go to, as well as an app for your phone. Set up all your billing sites on one site, and it tracks bills, due dates, payments and spending. It will send you alerts when bills are due. I only have 3 accounts it doesn’t have, and two of those are my local small town water and trash (the other is Newegg). Free for the website. The app is free unless you want to track more than 10 accounts on your phone, then it’s only $7. I bought it just for the ability to quickly check my bank account without going through all the hassle to log in to my bank site from my phone.
4. Patients Like Me: Website. Track your symptoms, side effects, and medications. Lovely graphs and charting, and they’ll send you an email once a week to remind you to check in. You can also print out a nice chart to bring to your doc. Free.
5. LastPass: Password keeper. I like this one better than any one I’ve ever tried. It stores your passwords on it’s server, so you can access them from anywhere, but they’re encrypted, so they’re secure. They decrypt them on your computer, so they never have access to your passwords. Free. If you want the app for your phone, Premium is $1 a month. I use the free version at this time.

These are the things I currently use on a daily basis. Does anyone else have suggestions or questions?

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