Remembering Where You Put Something

I am notorious for telling people I know that they should take better care of where they put things. Nothing frustrates me more than meeting up with someone who spends the next ten minutes trying to find a pen or a set of keys. I know, I am far from perfect but I think as a cat owner I have become far more meticulous on where I put things so that when I need them again they are easy to locate. I also understand that a lot of people in my life just absent-mindedly drop things in places as they walk by without putting much into trying to remember what is where. So, I have decided to put together a short list of tips on remembering where you put something.

5 Tips On Remembering Where You Put Something

1. The Memory Spot

This is what I usually do when I get home from a day at work or after an afternoon of volunteering. I will take off my jacket and put it in the closet at the front door. Next to that is a small table that I put my car keys on and there is a bowl I will put any loose change into. As I continue into the apartment I put other things in places that make sense to me and if I need to find them in a hurry, I can. But if you are not quite this organized, read on.

2. Say It Aloud

Sometimes we have to jar our mind into making a picture of what we are doing. So, when you drop your keys on the table next to the front door closet, say that is what you are doing. When you do this with any of your actions, it reinforces that you did actually do what you said you’ve done. An example from my life is when I say, “I have just locked the apartment door.” Sometimes I would forget to do this if I was on my way out and my arms were full.

3. Visualization

Here’s a trick I know one of my friends uses. When she tosses her keys onto the top of her dresser, she imagines the keys falling into a giant pair of socks. Only the exact pair of socks she pictures is a pair that she actually owns. So what this does is it gives her a starting point to remember. If she connects the keys to being inside some socks, she should remember that her socks are inside her dresser. By walking over to the dresser the keys should be visible.

4. Use Logic

I know this one can be a bit tricky for some people. If you have a key rack hanging on the wall next to your front door, use it to hang all of your keys. Don’t use it just for the keys you use infrequently. This means that not only are there spare keys there but each member of your household should have their key ring hanging there as well. That way if you are in need of keys for anything, you don’t have to hunt through everyone’s rooms to find them.

5. Write It Down

This tip is a good one to use if you happen to have a habit of forgetting just about anything you do. When you write down that you’ve “put car keys on the dresser” or “left boots in the drying rack” you will force your mind to picture what you have done. This is actually a good exercise to use as a tool to improve your memory. Eventually you’ll be able to just write down keywords to help such as, “keys – dresser” and you’ll know what that means. Soon you won’t need to write it down.

One More Thing, Before I Forget

Any of the tricks I’ve mentioned here will assist you to work on your memory skills, so there is actually a bigger reason to try to follow any of these suggestions than you may think. I know that I have been able to recall some interesting things related to where I put stuff now that I use these exercises. Plus, it helps me to keep track of such things as cat toys and other items that move around thanks to the ongoing activities of my cats. Even if you don’t own pets, remembering where you put something is always a good in case there ends up being an emergency situation and you have to grab keys or whatever in a hurry to get to safety.