Oh no, Lost your wallet again. Didn't you?
Losing stuff is pretty standard. We do it as kids, and Then we do it as adults. It's often seen as a part of life, But I started quickly realizing over the years that me "Misplacing" things was wasting valuable time that I could apply in better ways elsewhere.
But can we prevent this from happening?
Get Rid Of Stuff!
I am obsessed with pictures of shelves that only contain few items. I LOVE it. You know exactly how much you have just by looking; You know where the things are.
Most Americans have way too many items. And many of them are so unnecessary. They are just junk items that take up valuable space.
Decluttering will allow you to always to know where your stuff is.
Have A Designated Location
This is organizing 101. But many of us don't apply it.
I don't know about you, but I've had so many instances where I couldn't find something, I later discover, 1,2,3 or even 4 of those items later on. A great example of this, Is lotion bottles.
Having a particular location and setting up your living environment in a similar method like a grocery store, Will help you eliminate those moments when everything seems to be disappearing.
You will know exactly how much you have, And even when to buy and replace the item.
I've even started writing a date in permanent marker on the item. This is so I can get an average idea of how long it takes me to use up something. It also makes it painfully clear which items have been sitting for years unused.
This is great for your budget because you can learn what to buy again, and what to avoid for next time.
Be Strict About Putting Stuff Away
I get tired after work, and I throw my jacket on the floor. I Leave my bathrobe on my chair when I get dressed. I leave my car keys on my desk. All these little annoying habits make it hard to keep track of everything. Habit building can have a dramatic impact on you losing your stuff, Make sure to be incredibly strict about where you are stashing your stuff.
Have a location for everything and continuously enforce yourself to use it.
I am always paranoid about losing stuff while out so I check my pockets a lot. But we all tend to collect extra things and they are not essential, especially when there are memories.
I've lost my keys exactly twice. The first time happened when I was taking part in a go tournament in another city. I was tired and took a nap on the couch of the club hosting the tournament. My key ring with all my important keys attached to it had slipped out of my pocked and had ended up inside the couch. It took a couple of hours to find the keys after I noticed they were lost. I scoured several pubs and other locations that I had been to that evening. The key ring had my car keys in it, too, so I would've had to take a train home and come back with the spare key with a parking ticket waiting for me the following day.
I did not learn my lesson, however. The next time I lost my keys was many years later. They probably fell out of my pocket again. It snowed heavily that day. I did not find the keys where they must have fallen because a snow plow had pushed them away with the snow. We lived in a rental apartment those days and it would've cost us about β¬850 to pay for the locks of the apartment and a garage to be changed.
I did recover them a couple of months later when I went to the police station to ask for them. One of the keys was bent out of shape, which must have been the work of a snow plow. This time I learned my lesson and immediately purchased a chain which I always keep attached to my jeans or my shorts. Losing keys is a major headache and I never intend to do it again.
By the way, I agree with your post. De-cluttering helps a lot.
It would be amazing if their was an app that tracked where all your stuff is lol. That would be a huge help!
Right? I think that all the time!
It needs to be invented ASAP LOL.
Do you mean something like tags attached to everything important? Or something like cameras installed in your home with software having being taught to recognize your items and using machine vision to keep track of where they were last seen? The latter sounds interesting - but only paired with strong cryptography and completely divorced from any mega corporations in collusion with the NSA, CIA and the rest of the alphabet soup.
Tags would be awesome, but inefficient. Something like a location tracker on an APP. So you are at a location near your wallet and you input that into the APP and it remembers the location.
My mother needs to read this.
The amount of time she spends looking for things,
it just amazing. (I bet she's looking for something
right this very minute)
I have never considered putting dates on stuff,
but it is an absolute genius way of keeping
track of how fast you use stuff.
I am 100% implementing that one ASAP :-)
Small things matter.
Have a designated location - this one is number one for me. We are creatures of habits, if your things are on the same place over and over again you build your habit and do it without effort.
But with boys is simple. With girls is a bit more complicated, especially when changing purse :) ... I have seen this in my girl.
This made me smile. My son is ACE at losing things (He's now in his 30's btw). He tends to put something down and get distracted. He has lost numerous Kindles, wallets, phones etc. He even almost left his shoes on a train once, after kicking them off to relax and then almost missing his stop, panicked and went to leave. :D
Something handed down to me I pass on is "Everything has a back to it." Not a front and back but a place to put it back - where it came from. That doesn't help when you're out and about and take off your shoes though LOL.
I like the idea of labelling dates though. I may start that one.
Good post :)
Ahah, you have a funny way of keeping things. You write on lotion bottles. Well i do misplace my things also, especially my wallet and pens. Maybe i will find a designated place just as you said
Yes! That should help. You also will know how much you have at all times which really helps.
This is a well thought out piece!
Sometimes, I scatter my stuffs in no precise location but I get them rearranged them as soon as I can, it's horrible when everything is not arranged.
Thanks for the helpful tips @kaylinart
good post. i like post my friend @kaylinart
Thank you
welcome my sistar ...
Yeah rightly said . Actually our habbits played great role. Yes it impact on losing stuff. Get yourself in linear manner and all the things will be perfect. Good writing
Yes they do a lot! I don't think people realize how much of an impact it can have on it.
Yeah they donot realize
There's this TV remote I lost years back. I never seen it again, even after packing up and moving out. Weird.
Great writing
I appreciate your blog
Thank you
Thank you so much @kaylinart for motivated me use your great writing skill.
Thank you
Absolutely appreciated post sharing @kaylinart. Your thoughts increase our encouragement level. With your life experience we can go higher. Sure...Thanks for your fully recovery life thoughts.
Thats very true @kaylinart.happy weekend dear
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very terlena read your writing, hopefully always the spirit in all activities, and happy for your friend,@kaylinart
I am not afraid of losing anything, because nothing belongs to me...
It's just a temporary manifestation you can use...
As long as the energy/ situation changes,
you leave something & then receive a new gift to play with :)
There needs to be a place in you for UPGRADES! :))))
Hope you understand my message well.
I wish you all the best from Bulgaria!
@trayan
I've been to get my mum to let go of some old stuff we don't need anymore. Its hard for her, but I try to explain to use this analogy:
Then she gives me that look and reluctantly she lets go. Keeping the stuff you don't need clutter your life and mind and you keep losing stuff because you have too many stuff.
Is that you in the photo? Taken by you with the camera on a tripod ? Whoever took it, I have to say that it is nearly perfect with the sunlight coming from the corner and illuminating the hair. The model is very photogenic.
I love the idea of the "Packing Parties" explained by The Minimalists. They suggest packing up everything you own and labelling the boxes. Throw blankets over furniture and large items. Only unpack something when you really need it. At the end of 30 days, sell, donate, or trash everything that hasn't been unpacked.
I like topic of this post. It reminds me all of my memories about losing stuff. I hope humanity will find solve for this problem
I need to implement more of these rules into my life thank you for helping me take a look at my mess @kaylinart
To avoid losing some things, I do that keep them in specific places that only I know, I write where I keep them whatever it is and it is effective XD