Find Your Keys Every Time

Quick Win

Tired of losing your keys, phone or TV remote? Set up a system and harness the power of visual memory.

Try This Today

• Identify your “losing battle.” Make a list of the items you tend to misplace. Keys, phone, remote, reading glasses?
• Pick your spots strategically. There’s wisdom to the adage “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Choose a home for each item in an uncluttered area, close to where you use it. For keys, a hook or basket near the door is an ideal spot. For the TV remote, a coffee table or side table next to the couch is perfect.
• Practice. Create your routine by being intentional about returning items to their places. Hang up your keys (or toss them in their basket) as soon as you walk in the door, for instance.

Why

Creating a home base for things that often go missing can help you find them again later. A study published in PLOS One in 2024 tested the power of visual memory patterns in 84 people ages 21 to 40. The study found that when something keeps showing up in the same place, learned patterns can help “predict” where to look for it next time. So when you’re searching for your keys, the familiar spot may help guide your attention to the hook by the door and – presto! — there they are.