In work terms, years ago, I had a boos who steered me towarda an "Action Pad". It's something I rebelled against at the time (I thought I could hold everything in my head), but have used ever since both inside and outside work! I use A5 size notebooks (not sure how sizes equate in the US), preferably with margins which give me space to write notes. For the action parts I start with a date, list actions and tick off and date when I have done them. I also use the notebooks for notes through the day, so tend to use the right hand side of the notebook for actions and the left hand side for notes. Because I always have a notebook with me I know I can jot things down when needed; prefer to keep work ones and personal ones separate, and the personal ones tend to be smaller.