A closer look
Setting an alarm on your phone is statistically the worst way to remember your daily medication. Cognitive researchers studying prospective memory—the ability to remember to do something in the future—found a massive divide between time-based and event-based cues. When you tie a pill to a specific time, like 8:00 AM, your brain easily dismisses the alarm if you are mildly distracted. But physically placing the pillbox on top of your coffee maker creates an "event-based" trigger. Because making coffee requires active physical engagement, the brain effortlessly links the routine to the medication, drastically cutting down on missed doses.
