I’ve struggled with something my entire life. The worst part of this revelation is that if I don’t actively do something about it, it’s going to get worse as my life progresses. I misplace things almost every day. When it comes to important, physical objects, they are generally missing.
As I think back, the first time I left or lost something of importance was in college. I know I had lost stuff before this, but this was the first time it was fairly catastrophic. I left my jacket at some girls house during a house party. From that particular moment on, I have probably lost about 4 jackets total in my life due to my forgetfulness.
Throughout my college years it almost become humorous to the bank teller when I would come up and say, “I need to order another debit card.” Luckily, as my debit card has been misplaced several times (including twice over this last weekend), I have been able to recover it 98% of the time.
A few years ago, I left my $400 phone at a bar called green street and even though i got it back, the staff had used it to take pictures of themselves. In late December of 2008 my iPhone fell out of my pants pocket in the parking lot of a Jiffy Lube. I noticed less than 1 hour after I lost it, but it didn’t change the fact that I didn’t know where it was and had to wait until morning to look for it. The phone was broken due being driven on several times by Jiffy Lube’s patrons.
My keys have been at least marginally recoverable over the course of my life. Usually lost keys turn up in Lindsey’s car or some random spot at my house, sometimes even in the key holes they were last used in. In early January however, as I was getting a ride from Jen, I locked my car as we passed it in the parking lot so we could carpool together. Even with only being at her house and her car, my trusty car key seemed to vanish. I am now forced to use a JB Welded together key, or pay the dealer $240 for a replacement key.
Wallet, Keys, Phone, Jacket.
As pointed out by my mom, this problem will plague me for the rest of my life and it is something I most likely inherited it from my Grandfather. It’s a severe degree of forgetfulness that needs to be improved. I am taking several steps to fix or begin to work on my problem…
- Install key rack in house – It’s a simple concept, and it’s related to a work process I already do called 5S (Read about it here). Everything has a place. Sort, Set in Order, Sweep, Sustain.
- Man Bag – This is for going out. I need a single repository that can keep my prized possessions. It will aide in doing a quick “bag check” as I leave and enter a place. It will also help me swoop my jacket through the bag loop.
- Tattoo – This is the crazy part about the idea. I need something to start this off, a marketing campaign for my brain if you will. It’s a sign to signal the beginning to the end. It’s something that I can look at every day and be reminded of what I need to do to persevere.
I know it won’t solve everything, and I know it is something I’m still going to have to work on every day, but it’s important enough to me that I want to fix this as best I can.
