Losing things - a certain type of brain?

Factual Questions
1

I am terrible with losing/forgetting things. Today I lost my purse for what is probably at least the 20th time in my life (I am 24). This time, I left it in a bag and forgot it in the cinema (I went back and they still had it). I frequently (about once a month) forget my keys and lock myself out. My next door neighbours got tired of having to lend me a ladder so I could climb in my bedroom window and now have a spare key so they can let me in.

I’ve tried everything - I have designated pockets for my wallet and my keys and I try to always put them in the same place. I’ve tried to train myself to associate leaving the house with checking that I have my keys. And most of the time it works. But sometimes, I just forget. It drives my other half crazy and it drives me crazy to have to be asked, whenever we leave the house, “Do you have your keys?” I don’t want to have to be reminded! It makes me feel stupid.

Is there something missing in my brain? Why do I lose things/forget things much more often than most people? Am I just absent minded?

2

I always loose things too. I think we are just absent minded. I think my problem is that I am always thinking about something other than keeping track of my stuff. I am doing better but it takes an effort.

3

Francesca I am much older than you and have suffered from this same thing all of my life. :o I finally taught myself to never leave keys in the car and so have only gotten locked out of my car once in over 40 years. :slight_smile: A suggestion for not getting locked out of your house is to always lock the door with your key when you leave. Locks that work automatically are not as safe as dead bolt locks, anyway. Wait until you need glasses and can’t find them. :frowning: My better half has learned to live with my forgetfulness, but she still gets in her little remarks. :rolleyes: Just learn to live with it and realize it is just part of the way you are different from most people, but surely not all people. :wink:

4

Remembering things requires thinking about the thing you are trying to remember a few times. First you have to learn to program your mind. Think about it, wait a while, think about it again, etc. Secondly, being easily distracted completely disrupts the remembering process. You are most likely someone who is easily distracted. Study why you get distracted as it happens. You can usually find a few clues to understand your own “oddities” and can then figure out how to cope with them.

Rote routines like putting things in certain places don’t affect the mental processing that needs to be adapted. They in fact can be crutches that make things worse in the long run.

5

Remembering to take your keys out, pick up your purse etc is obviously not stored in procedural (automatic) memory for you. Therefore you need to consciously do it. If you are distracted and thinking about other things, your limited conscious processing resource space is occupied and you forget.

You need some kind of routine/habit that becomes automated so you can keep thinking about more interesting stuff.

Btw there is some evidence that the absent minded professor effect is associated with high intelligence so I wouldn’t worry too much. I think these people who have it all together on the keys/purse front haven’t automated, they just don’t have enough interesting things to think about.