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Even as a memory expert, I know how maddening it can be.
You know you put it somewhere – but it’s just… gone.
Whether it’s your wallet, a USB drive, your keys or something you’re sure you stashed in a safe place, losing things is disruptive.
Fortunately, learning how to remember where you put something is simple.
And in this guide, I’ll show you practical, science-based ways to recover the memory of where you put something.
Even if it was weeks or months ago.
These strategies have helped many of my Magnetic Memory Method students recover lost items and strengthen their spatial memory for betting recall in the future.
Better:
They’ve been able to train their minds to forget less, which is what you’ll be able to do too after reading this post.
Ready?
Let’s dive in!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVOsG9CKCb8
Lost Something? Here’s How to Remember Where You Put It
When you can’t remember where you put something, your first instinct might be to search physically.
You know how it goes. You race around:
- Checking drawers
- Retracing your steps
- Overturning cushions and pillows
However, there’s a better approach.
Search the area you believe you may have left the item mentally first. Here’s how.
One: Mental Time Travel
Although the title of this technique might sound fantastic, it’s based on the science of episodic memory.
When you consciously revisit the past, over forty years of research shows that you have more ability than you might think.
The key is to stop and relax. Breathe deeply and move yourself away from emotions of irritation or panic.
Next:
- Close your eyes
- Ask, “What was I doing the instant before I last held the item?”
- Let your mind do its work
Just letting your imagination operate without too much nudging from you can be hard at first. But with practice, you’ll find that it gets easier.
As weird as it sounds, this technique works best when you stop trying to remember.
Replace the mental pushing with experiencing your memory, almost like you’re watching a movie you’ve seen before.
Two: Ask Reconstructive Questions
I just gave you one simple question to ask. But if it doesn’t work, you can get more specific.
Try these questions:
- What was I wearing when I last saw the item?
- What was I thinking about when I used it?
- Was it part of a routine?
- What there anything or anyone else near me?
- Where have I lost the item before?
According to Harvard professor Daniel Schacter, famous for his Seven Sins of Memory, asking these questions helps you rebuild the context around the missing item.
Context dependent memory is powerful and these kinds of questions help your brain fill-in-the-blanks that you probably aren’t even aware of while hunting around.
Three: Use Physical Cues
If the previous two methods don’t work, it’s now time to revisit the environment where you most likely lost the item.
But not for the purposes of rummaging through cabinets.
First, return to the room where you think the item must be.
Next, try to stand in the same spot where you last had it.
Finally, start touching objects or furniture in the room.
Often, calmly walking into the space can bring you back to the same mental state you were previously in.
Like context-dependent memory, you’re activating what is sometimes called state-dependent memory. Although similar, it’s more physical.
Alternatively, taking a walk or grabbing a hot shower can trigger completely different states. By getting out of context and out of state, you can sometimes trigger recall from a completely different angle.
Four: Make A Checklist
If all else fails, keep a checklist of where you’ve looked using pen and paper. This simple activity is helpful for one simple reason:
Nothing wastes time and stacks on frustration faster than looking in the same place two or more times.
When looking for the missing object, aim to be thorough. If you’re looking into boxes in storage, make sure to pick the boxes up and look under them so that shadows don’t obscure the object.
This happened to me during a recent move when I was looking for a screwdriver I’d set down. I couldn’t see it in the garage until I picked up a box that had hidden the screwdriver in shadow.
Had I been following a check list that covered both the areas I’d searched and reminded me to pick up boxes and other items that cast shadows, I probably would have found the missing item a lot sooner.
Five: Prepare for a Future of Keeping Better Track of Your Items
We’re all busy, but one of the best things you can do when you finally find your missing items is take steps to never lose it or anything else again.
For that, you can read my full post on how to stop losing things.
In brief, the technique involves two steps:
Step One: Designate specific spots for things.
Step Two: Always put things in those spots.
Simple, I know, but I’ve found the technique incredibly powerful.
And since knowledge is power, let’s consider why our brains make such annoying errors in the first place.
Why We Forget Where We Put Things
The list is long and possible reasons for forgetting include:
- Clutter
- Cognitive decline
- Not knowing when something we set down will be needed at a certain time in the future (a prospective memory problem)
- The specific intrinsic value we assign to the item
- The kind of thing (receipts often get lost in ways that differ from car keys)
- Disruptions that “knock” information out of our immediate awareness (we often forget things when moving from one room to another because temperature and other changes swarm our senses with new stimuli)
Thinking through such possibilities can help us be kinder to ourselves when things get lost, which they inevitably will.
A Problem Of Our Times?
One interesting study to look at is called The significance of losing things for nursing home residents with dementia and their families. I suggest their research to you because the authors point out a simple fact that most of us will never think about:
Never in history have people owned so many personal possessions.
Not only do we tend to have more objects overall than any previous generation. We also have elaborate digital identities.
It might seem like a small thing at first glance. But in reality, having multiple email accounts and social media profiles on several platforms takes up tons of mental space. Managing where we’ve placed our information on computers or in the cloud can and often does lead to digital amnesia.
I can think of another issue related to how people living in our times own more things coupled with storing endless personal data in computers.
We have memory “meta-memories,” which is to say, memories about the memories that we’ve had.
In other words, I often think of photos I used to have on hard drives that no longer work. It’s great that I’ve used memory techniques throughout my life, something that’s made remembering such highly personal memories easier.
For some of us, however, this kind of meta-memory leads to levels of loss and longing our species never had to deal with before. Learning to let go is in some case the best option.
But the bigger picture aside, when it comes to simple items that you’ve misplaced, there are fortunately very simple strategies. I use them often myself and each one is powerful.
How to Find Lost Items: Additional Tips
When it comes to finding lost items even faster, here are some additional tips and tricks I’ve found useful over the years.
Keep Control Over Your Emotions
Getting upset when you can’t find something you’ve lost track of is understandable.
But it could be causing you to push the location even further out of your mind. Stress has been linked to memory loss, so we want to avoid it.
In The Victorious Mind, I go further into breathing exercises, meditation and other mindfulness techniques that can keep you in good emotional stead.
Harness Your Family & Community
You don’t always have to search alone. Ask for help from others in order to speed up the search.
If you’re particularly forgetful, getting into the habit of telling others where you’re placing a commonly misplaced object can be helpful.
The trick here is to only involve positive people. Family members who take every opportunity to criticize you for your forgetfulness should be avoided when it comes to this particular issues.
Say Locations Out Loud When Leaving Items
One way to help your brain remember the location where you’re leaving something much better yourself is saying it out loud.
For example, you can announce out loud, “I’m leaving the keys by the door.”
Sure, this might feel silly, but it will help create a stronger memory because you’re using more of your brain while placing the item in a location.
If you’re with someone else, you also give yourself an extra shot that someone else will remember it too because they will have heard you say the location of the item too.
Play Lost & Found Games
Okay, this suggestion is a bit quirky.
But think about it:
When you regularly exercise the “treasure hunt” capacities of your mind, you’ll develop mental muscles for locations.
You don’t have to wait for Easter to play such games. And it’s fun to get the whole family involved.
Also consider using a round of lost & found as a segue into other brain games for adults.
The Ultimate Way to Train Your Brain to Remember Where You Put Something
Earlier I mentioned starting at a particular part of your home when conducting a search.
This approach is also used as part of an ancient memory strategy called the Memory Palace technique.
It’s a way of rapidly finding our way back to ideas we don’t want to forget. It’s also useful in language learning, where the practice of memorizing vocabulary itself helps you find information better in your mind.
Although this technique offers you an indirect path to finding items you’ve misplaced, it will exercise the location-sensibilities of your mind because it uses spatial memory in a way that can heighten your awareness of your surroundings.
If you’d like to learn more about it, check out my FREE Memory Improvement Course:
Within a short period of practice, you should find yourself experiencing some memory boosts that help you learn faster across the board.
But at the end of the day, nothing beats relaxing yourself, searching strategically and then committing to do better in the future.
So what do you say?
Are you ready to find things you’ve lost in a better way than ever before?
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