How to Stop Losing Things

Losing things can be a pain, especially if it’s something you need to find in a hurry like your car keys before work. I personally have struggled with this and can tell you from my own experience that your life will be so much easier when you figure out the secrets to stop losing things.

Losing stuff isn’t because you’re not as smart as someone else, or even because your memory isn’t as good, it’s because you don’t have a system in place to put things where they go. It could also be because you have too much clutter around you. Below are some tips to help you stop losing things for good.

1. Find a place for everything and keep it there. When you figure out where it is you want to put everything then stick with it. Wherever it is find it and put the stuff there every day. If its keys then find a key ring, basket, etc. and make sure it goes there every time you come home. Find a place for EVERYTHING. If it’s your shoes, wallet, clothes, food, books, etc. everything has a place.
2. Get a routine in place on how you’re going to get this stuff to its place. For example when you got out and get the mail, sort it into baskets or wherever as soon as you bring it in the house. Get a filing system in place for paperwork and put it there immediately. When you go into the bathroom to groom put everything right back where it was when you first went in there.
3. Don’t procrastinate on your routines and systems. Make sure you do all of these things immediately without hesitation. The more you hesitate the more likely your new system will fail.
4. Label either in your mind or with some type of label maker every cabinet, drawer, closet, and storage space in your house. You should know exactly where everything goes and exactly what is supposed to go into that particular place. This is especially good for things like a filing cabinet.
5. Be smart with your organization. Put things where they will be easy to get to and what’s easy for you to remember. Don’t make this task take any longer or be and harder than it should.
6. Turn all of the above into habits. It takes about 28 days to form a real solid habit. If you have patience and keep practicing the above for just 28 days then you will have this mastered and have formed a habit.

Keep trying and stick with it. Focus on the task of getting more organized and never give up. You don’t even realize how important this is and how much easier your day will become when you learn how to quit losing things. Good Luck!