I’ve come to the conclusion that at least 80% of our social blunders are caused, not by forgetting things, but by remembering them at the wrong time:

You approach that guy you met at that New Year’s get-together, and you totally blank on his name. Someone tells you afterward. “Of course!” you say. Case in point.

Your uncle was born November 12. You remember on November 14. Hello Belated Birthday Card aisle.

That presentation you were supposed to give? It all comes back in living color when your boss calls you from the conference room wondering why he and ten other executives are staring at a blank screen.

The moral of the story: Don’t just learn information (names, birthdays, appointments). Incorporate triggers into your life that will help you access that information when you need to. That way, you won’t just remember…you’ll remember at the right time.