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Put a red ribbon on the cover or something visible. Also, make yourself a flightlist!

One of the things you should start NOW is a check list. If you go for your first airplane lesson you learn about and will go through a pre-flight and check list. It is VERY important even to experienced pilots...I for one, when I travel, have a check list for equipment...why? Because said experienced pilot went to a job 400 miles away and packed the camera radio but didn't pack the flight controller for an S1000. Ahem..Anyway, its a good thing to do even with a smaller quad like the Mavic. Then as you proceed down your checklist you will see "remove gimbal cover", "remove gimbal holder" etc. If you go for you Part 107 test someday you probably will find a question or two about that and resource management. Lastly, add a maintenance and log list to record repairs, flight time,  etc. Log Books can come in handy if the FAA knocks on your door or even if DJI questions something or if you decide to sell it some day. Good luck and be smart, aware and conscientious....

Put a checklist together (there are quite a few posted online you can copy). I don't read the checklist when doing firmware updates and whatnot so I have almost forgotten about the clamp a few times. After adding a sticker just below the power button on all my batteries "CHECK G-MOUNT!" I haven't forgotten.

I was the same at the start, just remind yourself, do you want to send your Mavic in for Repair?

• If it's no, then take that thing out!
  

Leaving the gimbal lock on will not harm anything.
The motor current is monitored and you get an error message in the app that the gimbal is blocked.
The motor won't overheat as on earlier firmware versions.

ntg will happen..

I forgot as well when i wanted to play with the settings without flying. Pretty dumb as i did not stick to checklist.. got a warning as expected so that function works ( gotta test it somehow anyway).
No harm done.

Muscle memory will develop.  I forgot it a few times in the beginning.  No adverse effects noted.  Similar to brushing my teeth I remember to remove the toothpaste cap after a few attempts to get the toothpaste out without removing the cap, now I remove it every time! ;)

Did the same thing a couple of times. No damage. I attached a ribbon when I put the gimbal cover back on, just slide it under the edge of the cover. Also, great advice on a checklist. I've started keeping a log, mostly to keep track of camera and video settings for reference as I try to hone my skills. I scribbled a checklist on the first page. Also a good idea to check for firmware updates before you fly, and if you do an update, recalibrate, and take the aircraft for a quick spin before spending allot of time going somewhere, only to be surprised. I'm pretty New at this stuff, and, old to top it off. Hope that helps.