Anyone can forget a wallet once. If you lose/forget it twice, you need a system. "I arrive at work and put my wallet..." where? Wherever you can be counted on to put it, every time. Do whatever it takes to establish your new habit. Wear a red rubber band around the tip of your finger that will annoy the fuck out of you until you take it off, and don't take it off until you have put your wallet in its designated space. Do this until it becomes a habit.

For what was presented at the meeting, you need notes. That's what notes are for, to remember all the stuff that was said at the meeting.

There's a downside to this... if you ever suffer from sleep disturbances, you may find you have sleepdriven to your office and sleepplaced your wallet in the correct location. If that happens, at least you will be able to find your wallet.

1) For the wallet, yes, a system helps.

2) For not paying attention, experiment. Give yourself three months of a different type of behavior modification before deciding it didn't work. If you want to change yourself you can, but it takes time as well as finding out what works for you. I'm sure there will be many other ideas in the comments.

a) For instance, take notes in meetings. That helps focus and keeps the mind from wandering. Try doing it with pen and paper. Try taking notes with a computer or palmtop (if allowed and if it doesn't distract with all the websurfing). You'll find the brain processes stuff differently depending on the method.

b) Re-assess your current projects and goals if you find the mind wandering distracts from important work.

c) Make sure to keep a strict work/personal life cutoff. If you're working too much at home or on weekends (perhaps late night debugging), it's very difficult to end up with enough time to be yourself to relax and let your mind wander and enjoy life. Or at least it is for all the lab types I know.

d) Adhere to a schedule of some sort. Having regularity and structure in your life can help you focus. Get that regular exercise, giving yourself a minimum requirement of so many days a week can really make your mind less fuzzy.

e) Make sure to have time for that fun creative musical outlet. Heck, give yourself a minimum requirement of so many hours a week at playtime.

f) If schedules just aren't your thing, try to have it average out that you have a good work-home balance, allow yourself a plus or minus where you don't have to do a strict schedule, you just have reasonable goals of an average change in what you get done.

g) Do a regular cleaning on the weekend.

h) Reading those professional journal articles are the bane to many. Maybe you can find a colleague to discuss them with, or form a journal club. Having homework can force you to do the reading

i) cut caffeine out

j) cut alcohol out, or reduce sugar or something

k) Most of all, accept that you are a fabulous wonderful person with great gifts, a good job, and valued friends. Yeah it's cheesy, but true.

l) Is professional standing or your happiness the most important?

1. Buy a wallet that has a "key loop." I have one. I bought it at the Travel Store at the mall. Attach your keys to your wallet. From now on, any time you pick up your wallet or keys, you will have your keys and your wallet.

2. Always put your wallet and attached keys in your front, left pants pocket. And put change in that pocket, so that the hard change will not bump agaist you cell phone, and change its settings.

3. Always put your cell phone in your right, front pants pocket, along with cash bills.

This is enough for now. If you want to go further, buy a book, "The Packing Book." Re-do your entire wardrobe according to that book's instructions for a trip wardrobe. More questions? Probably Cary can put you in e-mail touch with me.

Like you I'm very forgetful and absent minded although my husband is the engineer.

I've found that it helps to have constant running lists written down in a handy notebook that I carry around constantly in a handy notebook. I've also done I keep no more than 4 running lists at a time because I can't track more than that. Whenever I think of something I need to remember to do I immediately write it on the proper list. For example, as soon as I run out of milk I write down milk on the grocery list. When I am assigned something at work I write it down on the work list.

Every morning I look at my work and home lists over breakfast and then usually at least one other time during the day. I try to get at least one thing completely accomplished on my work and personal lists everyday. When at least half the stuff is crossed off on a page I recreate the list on a new page. I used to keep the lists on a Palm Pilot but I found that there's something satisfying about physically crossing something off a list.

I also have set aside Sunday to run my errands and do my grocery shopping. Having the lists ensures I get everything I need and then I don't have deal with any of that during the week.

I keep my schedule on a Palm Pilot because I can back it up at work and home. That's helpful because if I lose the Palm I haven't lost the info. The other great thing about such a gadget is that it easily fits in my pocket so I always have it and I can set multiple alarms to remind me of deadlines and scheduled events that I would forget on my own.

I call my Palm and my notebooks my brains because I would be lost without them.