Why can I remember random trivia but forget basic tasks?

This is such a classic ADHD experience, and it can feel absurd when you’re living it and not fully understanding what's going on. The key difference isn’t intelligence or overall memory. It’s how information gets stored and retrieved. ADHD affects working memory and attention regulation, not long term knowledge storage. If something is interesting, novel, emotional, or tied to curiosity, your brain tends to encode it deeply. That’s why random trivia can stick effortlessly. Basic tasks like sending an email rely on a different system. They depend on holding an intention in mind while doing something else, then retrieving it at the right moment. That’s working memory. With ADHD, those “remember to do this later” tasks are the first to drop when attention shifts. So it’s not that you forgot because it wasn’t important. It’s that the cue to act disappeared. Unless something external reminds you, the intention can evaporate. Clinically, I often explain it as memory being interest driven rather than priority driven. Your brain stores what grabs it, not necessarily what matters most in your schedule. That’s why you can recall obscure details from years ago but miss something time sensitive from this morning. The solution usually isn’t trying harder to remember. It’s externalizing memory and getting some supports in place that will help to ease that burden you're currently placing on yourself. Written reminders, alarms, visible task lists, or sending yourself a message immediately when something needs action. If this pattern frustrates you, you’re not broken or careless. Your brain just encodes and retrieves information differently. Once you design around that instead of fighting it, things tend to feel much more manageable and this is an area we can see things significantly improve.