How to Find Your Lost Items and Avoid Losing Stuff

Finding your lost items seems to always be a hassle, but it doesn't have to be that way. Although we all lose things, there are ways to reduce this. Here are some ways to avoid running around looking all over the place for items:

Organizing Your Items

Keep like with like, and avoid having to turn over lots of irrelevant things in your search. If everything is grouped into distinct categories, you can reduce lots of wasted time. Put books together, and ID cards together. For example, important documents, such as your passport and Social Security Card, should all be placed together in a small safe or box. Then, write yourself a note somewhere secure that tells you where to look for your important stuff.

Get Rid of Unnecessary Stuff

Donate, sell, or move away all the stuff you aren't using. CraigsList and eBay come in handy here. What's the point of crowding yourself with all these items? Or have a garage sale to ease your mind of the subconscious burden that all the unused stuff places on you.

Make Piles to Throw Away Papers and Stuff

We all have loads of old mail and papers, it seems. Take some time one day to organize and reduce this paper clutter. Get three boxes, or make three piles, to get rid of stuff. In one box, put all the stuff you know you will throw away. This is the box of trash or recyclables. In the middle box, put stuff you aren't sure about. In the last box, put stuff you want to keep.

Avoid Out-smarting Yourself

When searching for an item you lost, first think of the logical place it should be in. Next, very thoroughly search that area. For example, I recently couldn't find my Social Security Card. First I looked quickly in the logical spot, quickly running through old envelopes. Then I looked everywhere, and looked in crazy irrational places too. At the end, I went back to the first logical place that I quickly searched. I took out the envelopes and checked them quickly under a light to see if they had anything. I found the card finally. But I had gone through old high school pictures, dusty old toys, and piles of papers in the process. I didn't feel too bright about that, but I did learn a valuable lesson. Always trust your gut about where an item should be, then thoroughly look there.