A new survey has revealed that the average Brit misplaces at least three physical items per month, with the TV remote emerging as the most commonly lost belonging. The study of 2,000 adults found that 24% have lost their remote, followed by house keys (19%) and earbuds or headphones (15%).
More than half of those polled (52%) admitted to arriving at a checkout or returns counter without the necessary receipt. Meanwhile, 27% of respondents said they spend between 20 minutes and an hour searching for misplaced items.
The research, commissioned by Samsung ahead of the launch of its Galaxy Book6 series, also highlights a growing problem with digital clutter. Some 83% of Brits now struggle to find documents or files on their gadgets, with a third spending one to six hours per month searching for them.
Common digital losses include misplaced passwords (30%) and emails or photos that are difficult to retrieve. A third of respondents find organising items on their devices more challenging than in real life. On average, people have over 3,000 documents, photos or videos stored on their devices.
Annika Bizon, spokesperson for Samsung UK & Ireland, said: 'Searching for something you can't find on a device can be even more infuriating than losing your house keys. You know it's there, you just can't find it.' She added that the new Galaxy Book6 is designed to help users locate files using natural language queries.
The survey also found that 52% of people feel disruptions to their daily routine make them more absent-minded, and 34% believe they have lost more belongings as they've aged. Nearly one in five (19%) say they can 'never' find the document they need to share with friends or family.
