Forget retracing your steps, barking like a dog is the secret to avoiding lost items.

Looking for something? Forget retracing your steps, barking like a dog is the secret to avoiding lost items.

 

• Barking like a dog when you put something down will help you remember exactly where it is later on.
• Despite the common myth, retracing your steps is ineffective unless you have been making mental ‘markers’ throughout the day.
• A list of actions to prevent losing items, and to help find them, has been released – based on psychological and behavioural science.
• Listening to classical music or having a cup of tea are effective when looking for lost items due to their calming effect.
• Women are more effective at finding things than men as their brains are better at multitasking.
• Primary school children are also the key to finding your lost possessions – they have optimum cerebral capacity from 5-9 years old.

 

Barking like a dog when you put something down, such as your car keys or glasses, will dramatically reduce the likelihood of them being lost, according to insights published today.

 

A list of actions to prevent losing things has been released in partnership with leading human behavior expert, Jez Rose, based on the concept of mind palaces and making mental ‘markers’. This involves creating mental tags in the brain throughout the day to boost memory power.

 

Rose, explains: “The good news is that there is no such thing as a person with a bad memory – this is a myth. The truth is, we all know where our lost items are, we just don’t know how to access the information in our brains, and this is a skill that can be taught. Simple memory training techniques can work wonders for improving your memory and help you to find lost items quicker, or even better, stop you losing things in the first place.

 

“By consciously carrying out a significant action when you put something down, you are creating a mental tag on that moment. Barking like a dog when you put down your car keys is an extreme example, but the more unusual the action, the more likely you are to remember that moment.”

 

Published by My Nametags, British manufacturer of name labels, alongside Jez Rose, the list of actions also includes practical advice on what to do when something has already gone missing to help find it quicker.

 

Lars B. Andersen, Managing Director at My Nametags, said, “We are all familiar with the panic we experience when we’ve lost a treasured or valuable possession, but many of us aren’t aware that we can significantly reduce the likelihood of losing our items permanently by taking some simple measures.

 

“Our studies show that the average person loses around 3,000 items in their lifetime, so we have published the advice, created alongside one of the country’s most respected psychologists, to stop Brits losing their most treasured belongings.”

What happens to the brain when we lose something?

 

Rose explains: “When we realise we’ve lost a treasured item our ability to think straight is immediately impaired. Our emotional attachment to that item means we’re unable to deal with the situation rationally, we get swept up by the emotion of losing it. We are often inclined to panic and adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormone, are produced. These hormones, along with the urge for the brain to search itself for answers, can create a confusing sensory and information overload, making it impossible to recall where we put our item.

 

The best thing to do, therefore, is to try and relax. Have a cup of tea, sit on the sofa, concentrate on your breathing, all these things help stop these hormones taking over and stopping us thinking straight in a time of panic.”

 

Who is better at finding lost items?

 

“Women are generally better at finding lost items as they are natural multitaskers. Looking for something requires a degree of cerebral multitasking as we hunt our brain for any clues about where the item may be, something that women tend to be better at,” Rose explains.

“Children are also well suited to finding lost possessions as their ability to recall is often significantly better than their adult counterparts. Our optimum cerebral development, including the capability to remember information, lasts from around 5-9 years old and starts to drop significantly the older we get.”

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING HAS GONE MISSING

 

1. Keep calm and snack

Snacking on your favourite food or sipping a cup of tea will help to relax you and put you in a calmer state of mind which will help you make connections quicker in your mind when recalling markers.

 

2. Blare out some Bach

Classical music is proven to have a positive effect on finding lost items due to its calming effect.

 

3. Be patient

Allowing your brain time to relax, and for the initial panic to pass, will allow you to look for your item in a more focused and reasoned way.

 

4. Ask a woman or child to help

There are a number of different traits that make a person a good candidate to help you look for your lost possession. People who are particularly logical (for example, people who are very good at puzzles) are proven to be good at finding things. Women and primary school children’s brains are also more suited to finding lost items.

 

5. Meditate

Meditating will help you to relax and think more clearly about where you left your item.

 

6. Put pen to paper

Drawing and subliminal art therapy unlocks subconscious activity in the brain. Use a blank piece of paper and a pen and start drawing. Letting the pen flow can help to unlock the memory.

 

HOW TO AVOID LOSING THINGS

 

1. Bark like a dog

Barking like a dog every time you put your item down will make you more consciously aware of the moment in which the item left your hands and help prevent you forgetting where you were when this happened.

 

1. Pinch your arm

A simple physical action like pinching your arm when you put your keys down will help act as a mental marker, making you more cognitively aware of the action and therefore more likely to remember where you were when you misplaced your keys.

 

1. Stick a label on it

Put a name label in your item and handwrite a number on it. When leaving the house, run through the numbers of the items you should have on you and you are less likely to lose them. Labelling your items will also help ensure they are returned if they do go missing.

 

1. Compliment your possessions

Give the item a funny sounding name or pay it a compliment every time you put it down. For example, “I’ll let you sunbathe here by the window, Percy the Pen”. The bizarre behavior will help you consciously remember where you left it behind.

 

1. Become a creature of habit

Put things in obvious places, not unusual places thinking that it’ll help you remember where they are. Placing items in the same place will form a habit and make it easier to find, using muscle memory. The human brain quickly establishes a pattern when we place things in the same place without having to think about it, which is why we always reach to the same cupboard for a mug when making a cup of tea, for example.

 

1. Colour code

Our attention and behaviour can be affected by colour. Choose a colour you don’t like and attach something of that colour to the item before you put it away. You are much more likely to remember a colour you don’t often, than one that you like and is probably all around you.

 

 

For more information, please visit: www.mynametags.com