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Relying on reminders could be weakening your memory skills

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Experiments compared internally remembered tasks with one aided by a conspicuous reminder, then retested memory after reminders disappeared.
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After reminders disappeared, prior users remembered significantly fewer future tasks than people who always relied on memory.
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The impairment reflected reduced learning, not merely the loss of reminders’ temporary benefit.
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Offloading one task did not improve another task’s internal remembering, and especially explicit reminders made it worse.
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Remembering without assistance may strengthen prospective memory over time, while reminders remove this desirable difficulty and inhibit durable internal skills.
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Reminders reliably support immediate task completion while potentially undermining long-term memory learning and skill acquisition.
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Reminders improve immediate prospective memory, but researchers know far less about whether they improve remembering independently later.
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The first experiment included 130 undergraduates, 108 retained after exclusions, and a second included 280 participants to replicate findings.
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Cognitive offloading transfers part of your brain’s workload to an external aid, such as a reminder.

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