My DD9 has been self-hothousing on this skill, partly because of the unique nature of her school day (4 different classrooms daily, plus other weekly pull-outs for activities like band and choir, quite unusual for elementary school), and partly because there are staff members who would use something as ordinary as forgetting to bring a folder as evidence that she's not gifted, shouldn't have been grade skipped (immaturity!), or both.
A few nights ago I nearly stepped on a book cover lying on the floor like a pitched tent. DD admonished me not to pick it up, as it was her visual reminder to bring the library book it belonged to back to school. This is a trick I use for myself, too. I rarely take home my work laptop, so in order to make sure I don't commute without it, I leave it by the front door the night before.
One of my own strategies is to remember a number, as a backup to a full list. So if the wife sends me to the store for n things, a quick count tells me whether I'm ready for check-out or whether I'd better start thinking. If n>5, I make her write a list.
