How many times have you been on a flight and accidentally left at least some of your belongings on the plane or in the airport? It happens so frequently that most airports have a dedicated lost and found department. So why do people forget things? Memory involves many processes, but stress, lack of sleep, and just plain being distracted can affect our ability to remember things. Unfortunately, forgetting things on planes, in a restaurant, or at work can have adverse consequences depending on what you leave behind. There’s theft, of course, and the ordeal of having to cancel your credit cards or buy a new phone. Then there’s the stress involved in losing your belongings and all that comes along with it. The good news is that there’s a trick to not forgetting, and it’s called the look-back rule. It’s as simple as that: Before you move on from wherever you are, turn around and look back. Take a solid minute to make sure you didn’t leave anything behind on your seat, at the restaurant table, or in the airplane seat pocket. It might be a measly 60 seconds, but it can save you hours of hassle. It’s easy to make it part of your daily routine, even when you’re not traveling. When you move, you check. It won’t take long for your brain to get in the habit. To make it easy on yourself, never use drawers in hotels, never put things in the nightstand, and never hang clothes in the closet. Put them where they’re easy to spot when you leave. If you have a touch of OCD, you can even make a checklist to make sure everything on it is packed and ready to go when you set out for home.
