Why am I so dumb and incompetent?!
Question: Why am I so dumb and incompetent?
But now, she wants me to answer phones and do customer service. But, you see, the thing is that whenever someone calls up, or asks me a question, I never know the answer. I always take notes of what they say or ask (otherwise I would not remember) and I tell them “let me check that” and then put them on hold to get the answer. Then I get it, but I can’t remember anything without doing research. I can't even remember the things they told me or the questions that they asked me if I don't write it down! I usually have some faint memory of the answer, but I don’t want to say what I think the answer is because I don’t know with 100% certainty. I’m so afraid of giving people the wrong answer and this is why I usually check with the people around me what the answers are. But it seems that if I keep asking my co-workers questions all day, they seem to get annoyed and I really don’t want to annoy my co-workers, but I don’t want to give the students and parents the wrong answers. The only way I could remember all of this information would be if it was written in a book and I could study it, and do reviews weekly or monthly. I think I would know and remember quite a bit then. Should I do that? And I have attended a few trainings, read our student employee manual, read the website. But I can never remember everything about financial aid so I can’t ever answer anybody’s questions. I usually don’t remember much from the trainings if I don’t study, and restudy and restudy the material over and over again.
It’s the same way with college. In class, the professors teach but if you were to test me when class was over, just how much I remembered from the lecture, I probably wouldn’t score very high. However, when I spend many hours, days studying the material, I score pretty well on the exam. However, if you were to test me a few days later or even a few weeks later, I would score much, much lower. I don’t know why I can’t remember so many things? Is it normal to forget almost everything you learn?
I wonder what’s wrong with my memory? Why do I forget so many important things?
I remember when I took a Certified Nurse Assistant’s training course over the summer. I did very well on all of our tests and I even got my license by passing the licensing exam. However, after a few weeks of not using the material that I studied, I forgot all of it. This was a few years ago that I studied that material and passed the class and got my license. If I were to now take the test, I don’t think I would pass, and I don’t think I would make a very good C.N.A. either because I don’t remember the information.
I feel like such an airhead sometimes. I learn a lot, I observe a lot, I read a lot, I think a lot, I have an intense curiosity about everything, but unfortunately, I usually forget most of it. Whenever people talk to me, I never have anything to add in a conversation. I feel like I don’t know anything. It’s the same way with yahoo answers. I can answer some questions pretty well, if I can research them, but without the research I can’t remember that much.
What’s wrong with me? How will I get a professional job someday? Will I have to keep looking up the information? Am I dumb? Incompetent? Do I have a poor memory? What can I do to fix my memory and these problems I’m having?
Answers:
*smiles* You sound so much like me, it's unreal. It's like reading something I wrote. Well, it's a possibility you may have ADHD, which is not a bad thing at all. You may just have trouble concentrating and retaining information. I have asperger's syndrome and it's quite similar. I'd recommend telling your boss or whomever you're working with to explain whatever new job you're learning slowly so that you can write it down step by step. Write everything down. Tell people, "This is how I learn". You can tell them you're a creative learner and that's just the way you retain information. I used to make special binders with how to do my job at each job I worked, making a perfect example that anybody could follow and do my job. If you want to learn more about what it's like living with memory issues and ADHD, check out my blog: http://www.itoldyouiwassick.info.
Your diet may have a lot to do with it as well. If you have an undiagnosed gluten intolerance, for example, it might seriously affect your ability to concentrate and process information. You may want to look into that. Also, omega 3 fatty acid from krill oil (provided you're not allergic to fish) might be a good supplement for you to improve your memory and concentration.
Good luck to you. I know what it's like. Trust me.
Jaime
http://www.itoldyouiwassick.info
been there have the T shirt. I still have to study and have major problems recalling things even form a few hours ago. luckily at my age now I can claim a certain amount of forgetfulness as due to age!
yes I think it is a memory thing. I had to put in every waking hour of study to get pass any tests, others read it then went to pub etc and still flew through a test. I ha ve found though that memory is much like an invisible muscle.. if you don't exercise it it gets worse!
look up course and books on memory training and aids.
with practise they DO work. I did one long Time ago and got to be able to recall up to 20 things on a list in any order!! wow never was so happy with self ( no I can't do it now as I didn't keep using it)
I read about a list you need to memorise as a Base.. once we hav this we simply add ! things top them like a 'hook' so if we have say 1 = sun 2=shoe 3 =tree 4 =door etc we learn these thoroughly first. so we can say any number and immediately go to our mental 'hook' eg 3=tree.
if we had for example needed to recall on a list say 5 items and number three was 'eggs' we would have pictured in our mind eye eggs on a tree .yes large eggs growing on a tree. then alter when we were recalling our 'list' we get to 3 and lo and behold our 'hook' shows us eggs in a tree! with practise it really does work. I wish you well .
been there ,know the pain and sense of uselessness etc. life CAN get better but don't stay in ajob that gives you only stress and no happiness.
Hi there
I used to be like you, not remembering things. I tell you, stress has a lot to do with it. In your job you could write a document with all the questions on that you know the answers to, put it in a Word document, then have it open all of the time. When someone asks a question, if you go to your word document and do ctrlF and then type part of the question, it will find the answer for you! Because you will have typed it out before. I hope you understand what I am saying. I do this all the time.
The other thing is that I don't know how old you are, you say you are studying and have Nurse qualification. You are very busy. Perhaps too busy for your own good. However, not knowing your age, I can't comment much. But if you are worried about your memory, get referred to a memory clinic via your gp, and they can test you memory and see what is going on. It could be nerves or anything. You can't be stupid as you have passed your nursing course. I am stumped really, but to help you I would suggest a memory clinic review. I hope this helps and God bless you and everything that you do.