[jsdwarf]

My trick is to make the objects "stand out". Black headphones, smartphones, keys etc are easily overlooked in work bag pockets or when placed on other dark surfaces.

I've greatly improved the "retrieval interval" of my phone since I've put it in a mint-green case instead of the standard black one. Same goes for my bluetooth headphone case, on which I applied reflective stickers.

Another trick is to group related objects. My office key card is in the cover of my work smart phone, so I have to look out for one item less each morning.

[WalterBright]

I attached brightly colored ribbons to my keys. Finding the keys now takes far, far less time. I feel stupid not thinking of this decades ago.

I got the idea from reading a survival book, which recommended taping things like the knife with brightly colored tape, so you can find it when you drop it in the leaves. I accidentally threw my keys in the woods when I meant to just throw a stick. It took 3-4 hours of searching to find them, even in a 10x10 area (because it was years of layers of leaves).

[digging]

> Another trick is to group related objects.

Once I started always putting my wallet and keys down together, no matter what, I basically never lost either of them again.