I haven’t misplaced anything today, but I know I will at some point. This week? This month? Definitely this year, and probably more and more as the years go by. It got me thinking about misplacing things, and what I might be able to do about that.

When or why do I misplace things?

• Active
  • Putting something down in one of many frequent places
  • Putting something down in an infrequent place
  • Getting distracted half-way and putting something down somewhere I don’t remember
  • Putting something down because my hands are full and I need to pick up something else
  • Putting something in a place that’s similar to but not the same as the place it should be, and not catching the mistake
  • Putting something somewhere near it should be instead of where it should be because that place is occupied or inaccessible
  • Putting something away for the long term, then forgetting where it is
  • Putting something away, then forgetting whether I have it or not
  • Putting aside something in progress or waiting for something else, then forgetting where it is or when I need to get back to it (ex: mismatched socks)
  • Shuffling things into similar things (ex: papers)
  • Making a mental note of where I put something, but not remembering it well enough
• Passive
  • Someone moving or dislodging something from where I expect it to be
  • Forgetting to check for things that have accidentally fallen or been left behind (ex: gloves, scarves, things in pockets)
  • Leaving things in an opaque container for convenience, and then not taking them out and putting them away (ex: gloves)
  • Things falling out of pockets or through linings, un-noticed
  • Familiar tasks in familiar environments lead to automatic thinking and reduced attention
  • Forgetting to prepare or take something
  • Gaps when retracing steps
• Retrieval
  • Skipping over something because something else is covering it or obstructing my view
  • Looking at something but not recognizing it
  • Limiting my field of view unnecessarily
  • Misremembering things that are similar to things I remember getting rid of, so I don’t look for them
  • Not searching in a systematic manner
  • Having a false memory of putting something away in a different place
    • Confusing with previous memory
    • Confusing plans with reality

What tools and tactics do people use to minimize the hassle of misplacing things?

• Build automatic habits
  • Have one clearly defined place for each thing, or very few clearly defined places
  • Explicitly encode memories around picking things up or putting things down
    • Looking
    • Mental note
    • Note to self, out loud
    • Text note
    • Audio note, recorded
    • Picture
  • Have a handy holding place for in-between things or miscellaneous things, and review this frequently (ex: bin, belt bag)
• Reduce retrieval costs
  • Regularly tidy with fresh eyes
  • Make lists of where things are
  • Label containers with their contents (ex: cabinets)
  • Keep things clear and tidy
• Label
  • Label things so that in case they’re lost, someone might be able to return them to you
  • Offer rewards
• Reduce the need for the item
  • Replace or supplement often-misplaced identification with always-present information or more frequently used devices (ex: biometrics, keycodes, smartphone)
  • Buy or budget for replacements (ex: pens)
  • Keep extra stock of items in multiple places (ex: pens)
  • Minimize the number of unneeded things you carry, and keep other things in a known place (ex: infrequently-used keys)
  • Eliminate the item entirely
• Add alerts
  • Track location (ex: smartphones, parking)
  • Add proximity alerts (ex: smartphone-laptop Bluetooth proximity detection, tracking stickers)
• Fill in gaps
  • Retrace steps
  • Ask someone else who might be able to look with fresh eyes or who might have different memories

When are these tools particularly useful?

From “External and internal memory aids: when and how often do we use them?” (Intons-Peterson and Fournier, 1986):

• When intervening events may interfere
• When there’s a long delay between encoding and retrieval
• When accuracy is important
• When information is difficult to remember
• When there’s limited time to remember
• When you want to avoid the effort of remembering

Based on these thoughts, what can I tweak about my life? Maybe I can pay closer attention to incidents of misplaced things and other action slips over the next few weeks so that I can see where the gaps are….