Jez Rose is a behavior expert, who authored a book called Flip the Switch: Achieve Extraordinary Things with Simple Changes to How You Think. Now, he has turned to explore the mechanics of memory, to learn how we can remember what we do on a daily basis more vividly.
Increasing awareness and memory serves to help everyone, especially when looking for something you have misplaced. Here are some tips he recommends when trying to remember where you put something that is lost.
First of all, Rose recommends something out of the ordinary. Once you realize that something is lost, he does not say to frantically and immediately start looking. Jez instead puts forth the idea that you should first sit, have a tea and a snack, and try and relax.
The reason, he says, is because otherwise, our frustration will confuse us. Rose says: “When we realize we’ve lost a treasured item our ability to think straight is immediately impaired … 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.”
Physiologically, the brain is confused by the production of “adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormone.”
After having a tea, turn on some classical music to keep the calm energy of your break going throughout the search. Then, you can ask for help- especially from logical people, women, or elementary school kids.
Women, in particular, Rose says, are “natural multitaskers,” and therefore better candidates to find lost items. Children, also, Jez teaches, have “significantly better” recall compared to others.
The best way, though to prevent losing things, is to tag your memories when you put them down. What this means is doing something weird to make sure you remember.
For example, when you put your phone down on a table, you could moo like a cow, and that strangeness will shake your brain into awareness, and produce a strong memory. It’s strange, but it beats losing things.