We all know somebody who can never find their keys.
It is so easy to temporarily lose or permanently misplace them. We throw them down on the side when we enter the door. We stuff them into our pockets, but we’ll later ask ourselves ‘which pockets?’ when we’re scrambling to find them the next time we head out.
It’s silly because losing your keys is such a pain — why take these risks? A lost mailbox key can require an unwanted call to the landlord. And the worst of all is not being able to get into your home.
Image by Capri23auto
Lucky for you, we’ve come up with this handy guide to stop you from losing your keys.
1. A Special Keyring
A keyring doesn’t sound like the most innovative way to help. We’ve all been given keyrings over the years from friends returning from their holidays or as secret Santa gifts from colleagues that we don’t know so well. There’s probably one lying around somewhere — not that you’d use it.
Instead, consider adopting a keyring with special meaning to it. Or find one you already have and attach special meaning to it. Maybe it reminds you of a great trip you took or a particularly close friend. This way, you are less likely to just throw your keys around, considering how you value the keyring.
Alternatively, you could just get the most distinctive keyring you can buy so that it is far easier to spot your keys when you can’t find them.
2. A Hook
One of the problems with keys is that — well unless your keys are like a janitor’s set — they can easily get caught up amongst a bunch of other different things, and carried off somewhere else. Or they can fall out of jacket pockets and down the backs of couches.
You need somewhere specific to put them. One great option is to put a hook right by the door. It’s so easy to just hang your keys up as soon as you come in the door. It will be the first thing you see, prompting you to hang them up, and the consistent repetition of this establishes hanging them up on the hook as a habit.
3. A Box
For some, the layout of their home means there isn’t necessarily a convenient place to put a hook. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a resting place for your keys.
Some people prefer a box, where they know they can put their keys. One downside is that this can get a bit messy and clustered, as all the family’s forgotten keys jumble in with each person’s set. But on the plus side, you know that your keys are in there, you just have to get through the jumble.
4. Reduce Clutter By The Door
Most of us have some kind of nether zone right by the front door, where all the going-out-of-the-house stuff goes. Shoes and shoe wracks, umbrellas, and coats among other things often find a temporary home near here.
Banish any and all clutter from this area, and you’ll likely give yourself a better chance of not losing your keys. It is often the place we leave our keys when we’ve just come in the door, and so the place we start losing them. Reduce the clutter here and — assuming you haven’t invested in a hook and a keyring — it’ll be much easier to find your keys the next time you absentmindedly lay them down.
We hope this has given you food for thought on how not to misplace your keys. Try one of these tricks and never again find yourself late for work because you can’t find your car key!
