Misplacing things

[RunningBum]

Hard as I try to stay organized, I'm constantly misplacing things. It drives me nuts! Today's event was a USB car charger that I had taken with on vacation. I went to look for it to put it back in my second car, and couldn't find it in either bag, or the 2 places I remembered unpacking those bags, even though I remembered putting it in a bag the last day of the trip. Finally I gave up, ordered a new one on Amazon, and 2 hours later I found it at another place where I had unpacked some stuff.

Sometimes it's my wallet, or my GPS running watch, or my reading glasses. I have multiple pair of cheap reading glasses scattered around the house, but my eye doctor recommends the prescription pair for longer reading/computer sessions, since I have different strength lenses per eye.

I try to have standard places to dump stuff. Fortunately for my phone I use a cradle to get better reception, so I'm very good at putting that in the same place all the time. My wallet is usually put on my kitchen counter/desk area but can stay in pants or jeans pocket, or a backpack bag if I was out running, or could be elsewhere in the house if I had to get a credit card out for an online purchase.

I'm at my worst after a run, where I'm tired and am likely to dump my watch or something else like that almost anywhere in my car or at home, and I'm too tired to keep it in my memory for when I go to look for it. I've pretty much always been this way, so I don't think it's an age thing.

I've solved the car key issue by just leaving the key in my car in the garage. Every once in awhile it'll wind up in a pocket but I look there first and don't lose much time.

Any similar stories, or tips and tricks, other than the obvious "have a standard place for things" that I can't quite seem to stick with? I know there are those tracker tags you can put on stuff but they seem a bit pricey, don't fit some of the things I misplace, and I can't predict what all I'm going to misplace.

[Walt34]

There's a song about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lSliucgygc

[RunningBum]

HAW! Smiled all the way through that one!

[cathy63]

My solution for things like car chargers is to have a travel bag that goes everywhere and never gets unpacked at home. It has a car charger with two usb ports, a wall charger with two usb ports, a set of outlet adapters for other countries, and cables with mini-usb, micro-usb, usb-c and lightning on the other ends. With those, I can charge a Kindle, both our Android phones, iPad and GPS.

Sorry I can't help with the glasses, car keys or wallet problems. I lose those things all the time too!

[Marita40]

I don't have this problem, mainly because I am hyper organized in only returning things to their designated spots. It has saved me a lot of time and trouble.

However, when I know I have to remember something I might forget, such as where the car is in the mall parking lot, or someone 's name and there's no pencil or smartphone handy, I use a combination of mindfulness and mnemonic devices. It works every time.

I think mindfulness in particular might be the key for you. Slow down and focus on even the little, mundane things.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 ... I think mindfulness in particular might be the key for you. Slow down and focus on even the little, mundane things.

I think you are right. I suspect nearly all of the times when I've had this issue it's because I had been too tired or in too much of a hurry to either put something in its standard place, or to recognize there's some reason I can't. In the latter I need to stop and tell myself where I've put it out of the ordinary place. A little bit of time then will save me the 10 minutes or much more of searching later as I'm trying to get out the door and can't find what I need.

[Blue Collar Guy]

Similar stories sure. My reading glasses were a constant loss. I got a String that they sell at the dollar store for them, Now i look like a 312 pound librarian but its ok. My wife found the glasses the last time in the recycling garbage pail. Some how she was able to track down what i did before i lost them. The keys go on a clip the attaches to my belt. My wallet has turned into a motorcycle wallet with the chain that also attaches to the belt. My gun is worn in an ankle holster when im home, waistband if im out or lamp table when im sleeping. (yes i misplaced it, found it in the fruit basket after i already check for it there.)

[aja8888]

When we moved to the "downsized" house three years ago, I packed all my automotive and hand tools in boxes and labelled them. I have a smaller garage in the new house and also decided to consolidate tool boxes when unpacking. Plus, I hung some cabinets and new shelves.

For the next two years, I had great difficulty remembering where I put many tools and consequently just bought replacements when needed. Now I have more tools than when I moved and still have certain tools that are "missing in action".

One consolidation is that during all of this confusion, I have found some long lost antique tools, of which I am sure will never be used again.

I also found a box with chest waders that I used to wear when fishing in Long Island Sound about 40 years ago. When I took them out of the box, they crumbled into a pile of dusty canvas and rubber.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Hard as I try to stay organized, I'm constantly misplacing things. It drives me nuts! Today's event was a USB car charger that I had taken with on vacation. I went to look for it to put it back in my second car, and couldn't find it in either bag, or the 2 places I remembered unpacking those bags, even though I remembered putting it in a bag the last day of the trip. Finally I gave up, ordered a new one on Amazon, and 2 hours later I found it at another place where I had unpacked some stuff. Sometimes it's my wallet, or my GPS running watch, or my reading glasses. I have multiple pair of cheap reading glasses scattered around the house, but my eye doctor recommends the prescription pair for longer reading/computer sessions, since I have different strength lenses per eye. I try to have standard places to dump stuff. Fortunately for my phone I use a cradle to get better reception, so I'm very good at putting that in the same place all the time. My wallet is usually put on my kitchen counter/desk area but can stay in pants or jeans pocket, or a backpack bag if I was out running, or could be elsewhere in the house if I had to get a credit card out for an online purchase. I'm at my worst after a run, where I'm tired and am likely to dump my watch or something else like that almost anywhere in my car or at home, and I'm too tired to keep it in my memory for when I go to look for it. I've pretty much always been this way, so I don't think it's an age thing. I've solved the car key issue by just leaving the key in my car in the garage. Every once in awhile it'll wind up in a pocket but I look there first and don't lose much time. Any similar stories, or tips and tricks, other than the obvious "have a standard place for things" that I can't quite seem to stick with? I know there are those tracker tags you can put on stuff but they seem a bit pricey, don't fit some of the things I misplace, and I can't predict what all I'm going to misplace.

We're getting really bad too. So bad that we now send ourselves emails about the "clever" hiding places we stuff things right before a long trip. Because we know that when we get back, we never remember where we put stuff.

I once lost an older laptop for over a year because I had hidden it too cleverly just before a trip. It turned out that I had slide it along the edge of something and it was so well hidden by the cabinet door hinge that I couldn't see it. Until I took some things out of that storage cabinet over a year later, and then noticed it. And this was years ago, so I know I was just as bad back then.

DH is always looking for stuff, and most of the time I have to help him. And more often than not I'm the one that finds it. But if I've lost it, it's hopeless!

[braumeister]

My only attempt at a solution is in the summer I pretty much live in cargo shorts. If I'm looking for something there's a good chance it's in one of the pockets.

[Marita40]

I have caught myself searching for my reading glasses, only to find I'm already wearing them. Embarrassing. Turning into my mother for sure!

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 I have caught myself searching for my reading glasses, only to find I'm already wearing them. Embarrassing. Turning into my mother for sure!

Wait a minute!! Post #5 says you are not afflicted.

[Fedup]

I have two memory places. My purse and a cupboard. Anything I want to keep I throw them in there. I rarely lose anything. I first go to my purse and then the cupboard. But the downside is my purse is heavy.
My husband is another story, he lost his keys because he either forget them in his pocket or inside a car door. So I hold on to his stuff too if I can except his glasses. Did I mention already my purse is really heavy.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 DH is always looking for stuff, and most of the time I have to help him. And more often than not I'm the one that finds it. But if I've lost it, it's hopeless!

My son has always been my finder. From very early on, I could always ask "Where did I leave ... ?" and he almost always knew. It was best when he lived at him, but there was one time I lost something, I forget what now, for days. He came home, and I told him what I'd lost, and that the last place I remember it was in the car, though I had turned it inside out already. He checked a couple other likely places in the house, then went to the car, and found the crevice where it was. That may say something about my searching skills as much as my memory.

[Marita40]

I was admitting, belatedly, to my one exception. Girl Scout here!

[Fedup]

My husband find my glasses for me. I have several glasses lying around our family area, but if I can see where they are, then they are no use to me.

[mystang52]

I used to lose things (temporarily) often. As part of a massive decluttering of my house, shortly after I ER'd, I also got organized. Now, instead of knowing that something is "somewhere in a safe place" I generally know where it is.
I do have 2 sh&t places to temporarily put something, a kitchen drawer and a file cabinet drawer, if I'm not sure where to put something "permanently" or too lazy to do so at a given moment. But I clean out those 2 sites at least monthly.
And with all of that organization, there are still not-infrequent instances where I just cannot find something.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup I have two memory places. My purse and a cupboard. Anything I want to keep I throw them in there. I rarely lose anything. I first go to my purse and then the cupboard. But the downside is my purse is heavy. My husband is another story, he lost his keys because he either forget them in his pocket or inside a car door. So I hold on to his stuff too if I can except his glasses. Did I mention already my purse is really heavy.

Did you know it is possible to "lose" stuff within a purse even if you "know" it is there? DW has a multi-compartment (7?) purse and the Costco cc and the driver's license seem to frequently change places within the purse, so TSA lines are sometimes interesting places to be as the search goes on. Given enough time tho because you are "sure" it is in there,you often will find it given enough time. Of course there are the times when cellphones/glasses fall out of unzipped purse pockets somewhere in the car , like between the seats or between the seat and the door.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 We're getting really bad too. So bad that we now send ourselves emails about the "clever" hiding places we stuff things right before a long trip. Because we know that when we get back, we never remember where we put stuff. I once lost an older laptop for over a year because I had hidden it too cleverly just before a trip. It turned out that I had slide it along the edge of something and it was so well hidden by the cabinet door hinge that I couldn't see it. Until I took some things out of that storage cabinet over a year later, and then noticed it. And this was years ago, so I know I was just as bad back then. DH is always looking for stuff, and most of the time I have to help him. And more often than not I'm the one that finds it. But if I've lost it, it's hopeless!

I have an Excel spreadsheet "Where It Is" that lists item and place for less frequently used stuff. The beauty of the spreadsheet is that you can search it.
Of course the same fatal flaw exists: if you move something to a newer better place, it is gone forever unless you update the spreadsheet.

[kaneohe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum ....................... Any similar stories, or tips and tricks, other than the obvious "have a standard place for things" that I can't quite seem to stick with? ..................

The obvious tip is quite powerful.......I recently panicked on the way to the airport. As I was packing keys and wallet from pants pockets to backpack I couldn't find driver's license even tho it is always in the "standard" place......
a multi-"page" plastic storage within the wallet for medical insurance cards,
favorite pics of kids/grandkids, and the driver's license. After what seemed a lifetime (but probably only a few minutes), I finally found it but it was on pg.4 instead of the usual pg. 2. Whew! A minor variation of somewhere in that purse.