Where is it? Where did I put that? Did I lose it? 

These are some of the most common questions uttered by people all over the world. Every. Single. Day. 

Which is why there have been so many studies done on this topic. We might be culturally different, but at our core, we’ll all the same: forgetful. According to psychologist David L. Schachter, the author of The Seven Sins of Memory, forgetfulness “is the breakdown at the interface of attention and memory.” 

Losing things disrupts our normal sense of control. But the most common reasons for losing things are stress, multitasking and plain old fatigue. 

Researchers have been so fascinated with the subject of lost & found items, that there are surveys all over the world analyzing the data of forgetful citizens. The numbers are in, so without further ado, here are the top most common lost & found items (no matter where you live):

Top 5 things we lose

It might come as no surprise that the things you lose most often are the things you carry around with you most. These are the global winners:

Keys

Dude, where’s my car (key)? One of the most stressful and inconvenient items that we use are house or car keys. According to Chris Seabrook from Asguard Locksmiths, “most of the emergencies we get are from people locked out of their house or car because they lost – or can’t find – their keys.” 

Wallet

Next up on the list is the Wallet. It holds less cash these days, but still a lot of important cards and documents that would not only be a hassle (and an expensive one too) to replace, but also would pose identity theft risks. This is why if you can’t find it, it’s important to report it to the police and call your bank(s) immediately to freeze your account(s). 

Phone

Oh, the smartphone. We rely on it so much these days, once we lose it, we are lost ourselves! A Harris Poll found that men are almost twice as likely to lose their phones than women. One explanation could be that men are more likely to carry their phones in their pockets than women – which makes it easier to lose them on public transport, Uber or taxis. For example, Chicago taxi drivers report 120.000 lost phones every year and Uber’s latest Lost & Found report discovered that in the US, phones are the most frequently left behind items in cars.

Remote 

Is it under the couch?? It could most likely be in your hand. Remotes are so easily displaced, and it’s so inconvenient when you just wanna press play to keep watching your Netflix show. And it’s not just TV remotes. Think about Apple TV remotes. They are small, thin and dark coloured. Chipolo’s hack is to use a string to tie it to your couch. For which remote… that’s up to you.

Glasses

I can’t find my glasses cause I can’t see my glasses! Blurred vision, confused whereabouts – if you’re all alone it can be such a pain to find them. But retracing your steps works most of the time. If you have prescription glasses, it’s always a good idea to have a spare for emergencies.

More statistics and facts about lost & found items

Want to know more about how losing items affects our lives? Check out these global statistics:

• Most of us spend up to 2.5 days each year looking for lost items (PR Newswire)
• The average search time 10 minutes (Sigma Dos for IKEA)
• We spend almost 5,000 hours of our lives looking for things around the home (Sigma Dos for IKEA)
• The average person misplaces 9 things a day (Sumathi Reddy, Wall Street Journal)
• Approximately 90,000 to 100,000 items are left behind at checkpoints each month (Transportation Security Administration/TSA)
• The average person forks out around $6000 over their lifetime replacing stuff they’ve lost (My Nametags)

Conclusion

Losing an item is never fun, but finding it is always a relief. What a joy ride indeed! If you find an item that’s not yours, do take it to a police station. The unlucky person might manage to find their lost possession after all. What are the items you have lost most?