#264 Putting things in your shoe so you don’t forget them later

Neil Pasricha

I’m pretty forgetful.

I forget keys in my pants, food in my microwave, and words at the end of my.

Being forgetful is a terrible thing. Seriously, if you’ve ever tapped your empty pockets in front of your locked front door you know exactly how painful it can be.

Fortunately we live in a bright and modern Future World where decades of cutting edge research has resulted in breakthrough technological advances that give us a way to remember all the things we’d otherwise leave behind.

I’m talking about throwing them in your shoe, people.

It’s an ingenious and failproof scientific system of helping your Future Self out whenever you think your Current Self might leave something behind.

Yes, putting things in your shoe so you don’t forget them later.

Works for everything except babies, raw eggs, and Micro Machines.

AWESOME!

Just one week left to get your awesome package from my mom and sister!

— Email message —

“I went out gardening today and I created a little garden with your book  for you – check out my photo attached! Cheers!” – Steve from The Pothole Gardener

Photos from: here and here

39 thoughts to “#264 Putting things in your shoe so you don’t forget them later”

  1. Oh this is the best! Even if you have to endure the pain of a stubbed toe or bruised arch due to forgetting you actually put an item in your shoe, it’s so worth it to have accomplished your original mission of NOT forgetting to bring your phone/keys/iPod/bills/babies … oh wait, doesn’t work on babies … Ok, well you get my point.

    LOVE that tiny little garden! :)

  2. This is a great idea. I’ve actually never done this, but I’m always running around at the last minute, usually right as I get to the front door and realize “Oh shit where is my _____?” I plan on using this now!

  3. I’m going to try this one next time I have something that I absolutely can’t forget!
    Now I just have to figure out now to squeeze my macbook into my shoe!

  4. This works great! Except for a friend of mine, who is notorious for leaving his shoes at parties. He wakes up with muddy socks and retraces his steps around campus until he finds them (and whatever he leaves in them) again!

    He just keeps his phone in his pocket.

    I love this idea! Doesn’t work as well with flipflops though, which happen to be my ideal summer shoe :)

  8. Teehee…I do this to hubby every once in a while. I’ll leave him a little love note in his shoe, put mail in his shoe that needs to be mailed out….he hasn’t complained about stuff being in his shoe, so I will keep doing it.

  9. Yes! This is a brilliant awesome thing. I am always afraid to leave something lying on the floor near the door, lest it be stepped on, so putting it in a shoe will both keep it safe AND ensure I remember it!

    However, this only works if you can remember where your shoes are. A few years back when my sister was supply teaching, she got the early morning call for a job. But she couldn’t find the shoes she needed to wear. Being rather pregnant at the time, these were the only shoes she knew would be comfortable for a long day on her feet. After totally ransacking her apartment in panic mode, she finally admitted defeat and wore other shoes. Fast forward to the end of the day, feet sore, she returns home and goes to the fridge for a cold glass of nourishing milk. And finds her shoes.

    P.S. I LOVE the pothole gardner! He is so talented and awesome!

      1. IN the fridge! LOL, we then went on to use that measure as a benchmark for how bad someone’s “pregnancy brain” was getting. Eg. “Her shoes are totally in the fridge these days.”

        1. HAHAHAHAHA
          I can honestly say I have never lost anything by accidently putting it in the fridge, although it is one of the first places I look.

  12. We women have been doing something similar forever: Put it by our purse. Under, on, around, poking out, something, but since the majority of us never leave the house without our bag, the items are surely noticed.

  14. just did this on saturday so i would remember to get my battery replaced on my wrist watch! ha!!

  18. “I forget keys in my pants, food in my microwave, and words at the end of my.”
    Literally burst out laughing here. I didn’t even have to read the whole post to get my daily giggle.
    Awesome!

  19. This usually backfires on me when I place something in that one pair that I seldom wear. So for about 2 weeks or so I’m going around thinking I lost my chapstik at school or someone stole my 5$ or maybe my mood ring went through the wash….again. So I often get that “finding something in your pants pocket that you thought you lost” feeling but with my shoe and that’s pretty awesome

  21. This is definitely awesome. Whenever I go for a long run, I always tie my house or car key to my shoelaces. Nothing falls out of my pockets, I can still get into my house, and I get my workout in. Awesome!

    1. Me too! I just don’t trust those tiny little built-in key pockets they put in running shorts. But I do have this one awesome shirt that has a key pocket on the back, which feels pretty secure, but is kind of difficult to reach.

  22. When I get to work, I take my glasses off, or else I would leave them at someone’s desk and never find them again.

    Since they are off all day, anything I need to bring home goes in a pile with them, creating an obvious reminder to take it home with me. Works for everything except refrigerated/frozen items. For those, I put my car keys in the fridge/freezer with them. It’s funny how many times a panic email will go out “Someone left their car keys in the freezer!!!!”, as if that would happen by accident.

    BTW – where are those foolish keys now, anyway?

  23. I never do this, but when I’m packing a suitcase, I put all my socks and cell phone/ipod/computer cables and other small things in my shoes to make up for the space that my shoes take.

  27. Yes, but I never know which shoes I’m going to wear from one day to the next…

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