Top Tips to Remember your Pill

For the contraceptive pill to work, it needs to be taken at roughly the same time every day. This is why the pill is only 91% effective when used by the general population, compared to over 99% effective if it was always used perfectly. It’s so important that you remember to take your pill, so we’ve put together some top tips to make sure you don’t forget to take it.

Set Daily Reminders on Your Phone

Most mobile phones will allow you to set recurring daily reminders with an alarm. This has the advantage of ensuring your timing is accurate as well as preventing the likelihood you will forget. If you use this method, it’s a good idea to pick some time in the morning or evening that is convenient for you, so your alarm doesn’t go off in the middle of a meeting or a lesson, etc.

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Keep your pills next to your toothpaste

The best way to remember to take your pill is to ensure that taking it becomes part of your routine. Keep your pills next to your toothpaste and after a while, it will become second nature. You’ll get up, get dressed, brush your teeth and take your pill - simple.

Use Post-It Notes

Put a post-it note somewhere you’ll see it: on your computer screen, on your front door, on your fridge. Consider moving the post-it note around every few days, so it doesn’t just blend into the background and get ignored.

Use an App

There are loads of apps available to help you keep track of medication, periods and your health in general. Clue and Woman Log are great options to make sure you keep on top of your reproductive health.

Keep them in your wallet

This is best done if you get your wallet out at a similar time every day: Perhaps you always buy your morning coffee on the way to work, or you have to pay for parking every day. If you get your wallet out at the same time each day, including weekends, this could be a good option for you.

Keep them next to your bed with some water

Keep the pills next to your bed with a glass of water from the night before. Before you get out of bed take your pills. This can help it become more routine and makes you less likely to forget.

Get your partner to help

Contraception doesn’t have to be completely one-sided. It is the responsibility of both you and your partner. Try to get your partner to help you remember - they’ll probably only have to do it for a few weeks and then it’ll become just part of your routine.

Leave something in a weird place

This is a good way to prompt your memory. Put something somewhere it doesn’t belong i.e. a sock on your door handle or a roll of tape on your charging cable. When you see it, you’ll be reminded to take your pill. You can also change the things every day to help you remember.

Write it in your diary

If you still use a physical diary to keep track of your life, why not write it in on each page so you don’t forget. If you move it around the page each day, or write it in different colours, it might make you more likely to notice your message.

Put them in your makeup bag

If you always put your makeup on every morning, it can be a great place to keep your pills. This will help you to remember to take them, by fitting them into your routine.

Find a group

If there’s a group of women at your workplace, you can all help each other remember to take your pills. It could even become part of your daily routine over your morning coffee. When one of you remembers to take your pill, you can remind the others, and that way none of you will forget.