I had similar issues -- I ended up writing relatively copious notes, which meant that I didn't lose track of what I was doing and I could answer when asked what

I had similar issues -- I ended up writing relatively copious notes, which meant that I didn't lose track of what I was doing and I could answer when asked what the status was of X, "oh yeah, you told me to do that on tuesday, but I had put it aside due to foo, bar and the release of bax".