How to get organised as Brits forget nearly 1,500 things every year
Ever walked into a room and forgotten why you went there in the first place? It’s not just you - a new survey has found that 40% of Brits do the same thing on a daily basis.
In fact, a quarter of Brits forget about nearly 1,500 tasks, activities and occasions every year, with 5% admitting they forget up to 10 things per day.
Research from greetings card marketplace thortful reveals the things that people tend to forget the most about amid their busy everyday lives.
Forgetting why they entered a room tops the list, followed by what they were about to say (37%), as well as people’s names and passwords (both 25%). Around a fifth (21%) said they often forget what day of the week it is.
Mundane tasks also tend to slip our minds, including taking food out of the freezer (20%), taking carrier bags to the supermarket (14%), and forgetting where you put your glasses (13%), keys (11%), purse or wallet (7%).
Some people even forget about the more serious activities, like taking medication (16%) and picking up the kids from school or their appointments (3%).
Oftentimes, it just takes a bit of organising and building up new habits to make remembering things a little easier. For many, a September reset is a great time to get more organised and get ready for the last four months of the year.
To help Britons seek calm and keep organised, thortful partnered with the Style Sisters, Gemma Lilly and Charlotte Reddington, to provide their top five tips.
Digital daily declutter
"Just like the extra layer that can build up in our homes if we don't do regular tidy's, our phones can become a source of overload and overwhelm without the little and often approach.
"For many of us, a lot of our daily life admin, planning and entertainment is on our phones, from digital wallets storing travel tickets, bank cards, banking apps, exercise class bookings and so much more - not even mentioning email inboxes which can quickly get filled up with emails you forgot you even subscribed to and social media apps.
"If you haven't grouped apps into folders by theme already, we would really recommend doing this as not only can it help you to more easily find what you need, but your phone screen will look reassuringly organised. Spending 10-15 minutes going through emails and unsubscribing from the ones you no longer want to receive info from will help to stop the inbox overload."
Limit your distractions
"Our phones can often be glued to our side from morning to night. This can be a good and a bad thing, we love how social media apps connect us to friends and loved ones, keeping us inspired with new trends and up to date with news, events and places to go.
"It can be so easy to get out our phone to quickly check an email or switch a playlist and suddenly find you've been distracted with message notifications or video on socials and spent far longer than you planned, sometimes even forgetting what you'd originally gone on your phone for in the first place. Taking preventative measures to protect your time can help you to stay focused and not get sidetracked.
"Sometimes it isn't practical to simply put your phone in a drawer, so using certain modes can be more effective. You can schedule set modes to come on at specific times of the day and this will pause the apps you've selected during that time from being used or pushing notifications. Using this method can been a gamechanger to stay focused."
An organised home for an organised mind
"Life is busy, around the working week, seeing friends and family, remembering birthdays, walking the dog, doing the food shop - we get it, it can be hard to stay on top of all the life admin! We have seen time and time again how an organised home can help to reduce stress, boost productivity and much more.
"The saying 'tidy house, tidy mind' is famous for a reason. One of the first things we do in any room when organising the space is to do a full detox. After this, it's about creating easy to keep in place systems to keep things organised. The ‘categorise and contain’ method can be introduced in any area of your home, from kitchen cupboards to the bathroom cabinet.
"Group like-minded items together in storage boxes, regularly doing checks where items have use by dates. Doing this will also help you to see how much of each item you have, avoiding over-purchasing and unnecessary spending."
Pre-event reminders
"Adding special dates like birthdays and anniversaries to your calendar or diary is great but it doesn't always help us to actually remember to buy the present or card beforehand! Rather than have separate reminders a few days before each event, why not get into the habit of creating a monthly events reminder, listing all the key dates you need to organise, book or buy things for in advance.
"You can usually order items online and add your preferred delivery date, meaning you will no longer have to stress about grabbing something last minute. The first month or two this might feel like an extra thing on the to do list, but once it becomes a habit, we can guarantee you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner!"
Five minutes peace
"Carve out some time in your day to just sit and be. It can feel counterintuitive to do this when you have a long list of things to do but having a moment to calm your mind is so important. Whether it is sitting in the garden first thing with a cup of tea or not immediately jumping out of bed and into the shower and taking a moment to practice some daily meditation, mindfulness or breathwork.
"These moments of stillness and calm are often the time you get clarity on important things to tackle first. It sounds short but starting off with five minutes can be a good place to start, as it feels achievable and much easier to fit in on a day-to-day basis."
Watch: Mums make £925-a-day home organising strangers' homes - after being inspired by Netflix show
Read more about health and wellness:
6 easy ways to declutter as survey finds mess can impact mental health (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Could decluttering your digital life admin improve your mental health? (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
Three expert-approved spring cleaning hacks that actually work (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
