04 Nov Stress Relief in Searching for Misplaced Items

Have you, like me, stashed something away in a safe place only to find that you can’t remember where that is? Great!  I don’t mean great that you’ve lost something, but great that it isn’t just me who has that happen.

Not remembering has nothing to do with getting older as I have been doing this most of my adult life. Often, I kept something because it had some sentimental value or I just knew I’d need it at some future time. Where to put it was always answered in a logical fashion. Or so I thought. Then when it came time to relocate that something, my mind was totally blank. The logic would escape me just when I needed it most.

Perhaps it might be easier just to have one big box in which we put all our “safe-keeping” items.  Maybe be so bold as to hide it in plain sight like I did with a present one Christmas. I had bought one of my boys a ring.  I wrapped it up and put it in one of the tiny boxes I had made out of old Christmas cards and placed it with others in Santa’s sleigh sitting on top of the TV. Every time I passed by, I smiled. No worries about remembering where this safe place was.

Another time I was searching for something in the kitchen cupboards when I came across one of those homemade tiny boxes. In it was wrapped a son’s christening medallion given to him by his Godparents. I was holding on to it for safe-keeping.  Had my son who was visiting at the time asked for it, I would have had to confess that I didn’t ‘know’ where it was. Can you imagine how relieved I was to have come across it? And my home at the time? It didn’t take any logic to give it to him while the giving was good. I figured the best way to help your memory is to have less to remember, right?

Actually, this can be a lot like naming files to save on my computer. Know what I mean? Many are the time when I’d wish I spend more time planning on what to call the file, rather than being impulsive. At the time, it would just all seem so obvious. Later it was a different story.

Did I create a letter, an agreement or a contract? Was I referring to cost, price or fee? Was it a profile photo, a headshot or a cover picture? A rose by any other name!

After an extensive search, with a grumbling spirit and a promise to change the name to something more memorable, I would find the file. Upon opening and reviewing it, I would realize that the name I gave the file was logical and should have been easy to remember.  Now what do I do? Change it and hope for the best or figure that the next time would be easier and I’d remember it. Then next time would come and I wouldn’t.

Do you remember the time when name a file meant no spaces and had other serious requirements?  Me too.

Now, it is possible to have some long-tail phrases to help. That is good. Mind you, it’s that first word that counts as the file gets saved alphabetically and that is really important when you can’t remember the name. Skimming the list of file names looking for anything, anything at all, that rings a bell can often become a real time waster and cause for great stress. Have you ever noticed that the time it takes to find a file is in direct co-relation to the urgency of finding it?

Many are the times when I have said that I would fix all this.  The sorting and organizing and renaming of my files. Also the the sorting and organizing and stashing of things in safe places. I thought the latter would have righted itself when I last moved. Not so. I know that there are still some safe places I have yet to rediscover.

And if I were truly ever going to make either or both of those tasks a winter project, this would have been the winter. But alas, here we are on the brink of spring and winter has come and gone – okay, maybe that is more wishful thinking than reality these days – and I’ve yet to get that done.

However, with spring comes new life and time to turn over a new leaf. I can make a decision; I can decide that henceforth I shall invest more time in naming files, and finding memorable safe places. It sure would be a lot easier in the long run or would it?

The Smarty Pants Way: Take time to eliminate the stress of looking for misplaced items.  Our hearts will thank us for it!