Everyone has a gnome running around their house but have never seen one. They’re mischievous. They’re tricksters. They’re thieves yet always return items some time in the far future. They favor taking your hair ties, pens, keys, one sock out of the pair, garden tools, bills, grocery lists, and nail clippers.
One moment you see your item, the next it vanishes only to turn up in a random place months later. The child in us wants to pretend this is caused by a tiny invisible gnome – or elf – but the adult in us knows a human is behind this chaos. Either that human is you or someone you live with.
Why Do Our Things Go Missing?
You may not want to hear this, but it’s caused by some level of stress. There are many times in each day we rise where we are bombarded with thoughts of our next task. I’m not saying these thoughts cause stress, but they cause overthinking and losing focus, which can trigger a sense of panic or urgency in us – that’s stress. It may not be high stress, but it’s enough to keep your brain present in the moment.
That’s why things go missing. Let’s give an example.
It’s toward the end of the day and you just returned from picking your kids up from school. You’re saving money, so cooking at home is the only option right now. Before you begin the food preparations, you grab that hair tie on your wrist and throw your hair back and out of your face.
After dinner, you’re ready to retire. You decide you need to take a shower after a long day. This isn’t something you usually do except in the morning, but you choose to do it today because it’ll save you more time for another busy day tomorrow.
Before you get in the shower, you take your hair down and place the hair tie on the vanity so not to get it soaked. This is where it happens.
The last thing you’re thinking about this evening is your hair tie. You’re not thinking about needing it for when you’re moving about your day ahead. Right now, you only need to put pajamas on and keep your hair down. A las, the hair tie stays where it’s at… maybe.
For me, my cats love hair ties. I only find them later under the couch or under large, heavy dressers. And by later, I mean, when I rearrange the furniture or move. So, if a hair tie is gone, it’s pretty much gone for a very long time.
Other times I place a towel over the hair tie without knowing it, which travels to the laundry and somehow gets underneath the washing machine.
These things go missing because we aren’t thinking about them.
When we come home, we place our keys wherever sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes we’re caught off guard right when we come in through the door.
When we’re in the backyard gardening, we place our pruning shears down by a plant, then go on to another plant, because walking back into the garage to put it away is inconvenient.
When we’re doing laundry, sometimes the fabric softener doesn’t quite hit those socks, which then cling to the inside of our pants only to fall out somewhere at a grocery store. My husband has gone to work with a few of my unmentionables because of this very reason. I can only cringe at the thought of his coworkers finding women’s underwear on the grounds.
How to Stop Losing Your Things
You can’t. It’s almost impossible. You can have all the totes, baskets, hooks and labels to store all your items, but if you’re busy, lazy, or caught off guard, you’re going to lose something. If not you, then the little gnome living with you rent free.
If you want to lose items less often, take a breather. Use a planner. Try to stay focused on one thing at a time. I had to learn to set boundaries myself by simply telling those I live with, or who call me, “Hey, can you hold on for just a second?”
It’s okay to pause and take a moment for yourself to get your bearings. Another tip I learned is to try as much as you can to take at least 30 minutes for yourself in the morning. One hour might be hard but try to get 30 minutes to prepare yourself for a strong and mindful day. You’ll find that you have more control and less gnome-like catastrophes.
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