finding lost objects

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I can't imagine making a rash accusation against a friend or house guest.

That's much too irrational and not nearly as psychologically satisfying as kicking the dog or throwing the cat across the room.
 
Kicking the dog.

SpectecGTD,
I agree with you!
kicking the dog or throwing the cat across the room
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is very
psychologically satisfying
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I mean the small dog of course :D .

By the way profsolomon, did you write the book about finding lost dogs and cats :D ?

TesTeq
 
There's also a secondary benefit.

When the dog scampers away he will frequently hide where the lost object is sitting, temporarily camouflaging it.

And if the cat is flung properly, he will usually land within 18" of the lost object. (If you're lucky enough to have a cat about 18" long, he doubles nicely as an "Eureka stick".
 
finding a lost dog

TesTeq,

As a matter of fact, the original draft of my book had a brief section on how to locate a lost dog. I subsequently rejected it, as tending towards the ridiculous; but what it counseled was this:

Go to the place where the dog was last seen. Then pretend to be that dog, and follow whatever impulses come to you. Trot through that half-open gate--saunter down that alley--check out that driveway. In short, seek to recreate your pet's straying. The illustration would have shown the searcher wearing a dog costume.

As I say, I dropped the section. But it may have contained a useful idea.

--Prof. Solomon
 
And lost birds?

And what about the lost bird. Is your method applicable too? OK, it' really ridiculous.
TesTeq
 
the 13th Principle

Let me just add this: Obviously, my method is not infallible. That's why I included Principle 13--for situations in which that missing object stubbornly resists being found.

--Prof. Solomon
 
Coz

Couldn't agree more - I used to blame my kids for moving and taking my stuff - now they grown up and moved out I'll have to get a dog!
 
Great idea!
I think I'll get a dog to share the blame when my wife can't find something - right now I'm carrying all the burden.
 
the 3 C's

The "3 C's" for getting into the right frame of mind for finding a misplaced object are Comfort, Calmness, and Confidence.

Comparable to "Control, Relaxation, Focus, and Inspiration."
 
A word to MaryS

Great thread--I have printed out the "Principles" and am giving a copy to my parents, the King and Queen of Misplaced Things.

As their daughter, I was trained as a "finder," but sometimes I am also stumped. When I moved to my new home, I took with me a lot of artwork. Among the paintings I have was one that I thought was 6 feet long. I was ambivalent about it and wasn't sure I'd moved it myself, with the other paintings, or let the movers pack it and taken it in the big move, which meant it could have been put anywhere in the house. The painting only came to mind after living here for two years, which shows how important it was to me. :roll: One day I was thinking about hanging something over the fireplace in the den and the painting came to mind. Then I realized I'd never seen it in the new house. Never. I had no idea where it was, or if I even brought it with me (it could have been left in the storage room of my old home). I tore apart the closets and garage, and moved stacks of boxes looking for this gargantuan painting. Six feet is pretty hard to overlook, right?

Except that it wasn't six feet long. It was four feet, and I found it when I finally decided to open all the oversized boxes holding, I thought, pier mirrors, big posters and frames and other stuff I didn't want to use in the new house. There it was, safe and sound. I guess this couldn't happen to you unless you hadn't seen something for a long time, but it can happen.

I've also had the experience of looking for something that I would swear is red that is actually green--inverting or reversing the colors in my mind.

Maybe this is embodied in one of the good professor's principles, but if not, I guess it'd be something like "Make sure the thing you're looking for actually exists." It may be fruitless to search for a six-foot painting when the one you've lost is 4 feet long, or to try to find a book with a red cover when it's actually green.

:oops:
 
mistaken image

The phenomenon of which you were a victim is in fact mentioned in my book. In a chapter titled "Common Mistakes to Beware," I describe one that's called "Mistaken Image of an Object." I tell how I searched in vain for a particular book on a set of bookshelves--until I realized that the sought-after book was a paperback, not the hardback I had been envisioning.

I then almost immmediately located it. The book had been sitting in plain sight--but I had been blinded by my mistaken image of it.

--Prof. Solomon
 
Looking for a girlfriend, finding wife.

One of the common mistakes is to find a wife when you are only looking for a girlfriend (it's even worse when you already have one wife :D ).
TesTeq
 
holiday reminder

Holiday reminder re lost objects:

"There are no missing objects. Only unsystematic searchers."

Merry Christmas to all.
 
eureka zone

Regarding the Eureka Zone (also known as the 18-inch Principle): yes, frequently a lost object is to be found wihin 18 inches of where it last was seen, or where it's supposed to be, etc. However, in the case of oversize objects (a ladder, say), the Eureka Zone should be changed to 18 feet.
 
Magic formula needed.

profsol said:
Regarding the Eureka Zone (also known as the 18-inch Principle): yes, frequently a lost object is to be found wihin 18 inches of where it last was seen, or where it's supposed to be, etc. However, in the case of oversize objects (a ladder, say), the Eureka Zone should be changed to 18 feet.
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I think a magic formula should be developed to calculate the radius of the Eureka Zone. For example:
eureka_zone_radius = 5 * length_of_the_object_to_be_found
TesTeq
 
Are people really losing this much stuff?
I can't remember the last time i lost something.
And to be sure, i have never lost a ladder. Has anyone ever lost a ladder?

Why not just simply have a place to put most everything you own that is important, and when you are done using it, put it back in its place?
This way, you stop losing things.

Have a cufflink box, a place for your keys, chords, etc, etc.
Its an extension of the GTD filing principle, extended to your "objects".

I think i have lost about 2 things in my life.

Coz

PS: don't worry, i know why this thread keeps getting revived...advertising...
;-)
 
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