Lost Keys, Brilliant Mind: Why Forgetting Might Mean You're Creative
The Artist in the clutter.
You’re halfway out the door.
Coffee in hand.
Shoes untied.
Phone? Not in your pocket.
Keys? Probably in the fridge. Again.
And while the world calls you scattered, chaotic, spacey…
Science now whispers something different:
You might just be brilliant (knew it!!).
A new study in the Journal of Creative Behavior suggests that people who frequently misplace everyday items (phones, keys, glasses, wallets) may actually be more creative.
Not in spite of their forgetfulness.
Because of it.
The Study That Made Us Feel Less Alone
Researchers gathered participants and measured:
Frequency of misplacing items
Divergent thinking ability (the capacity to generate novel ideas)
Cognitive flexibility and problem-solving
What they found:
Forgetful individuals scored higher in creative thinking tests
Their brains showed more non-linear associations
They were more likely to take creative risks and solve open-ended problems
In other words:
The very mind that can’t remember where it put its AirPods…is the same mind that can imagine new worlds, new recipes, new rhythms.
The Clutter Isn’t Chaos. It’s Capacity.
Here’s the poetic part:
Creative minds aren’t empty.
They’re overflowing.
With stories.
With colors.
With 47 open tabs.
With big questions about the nature of time and sound.
And when the brain is dancing between possibilities, it sometimes drops a few marbles on the floor.
Not because it’s broken.
Because it’s busy composing symphonies of thought.
Einstein Forgot to Wear Socks
And he also developed the theory of relativity.
Mozart scribbled masterpieces on napkins, but lost sheet music constantly.
Picasso rarely remembered dates.
Steve Jobs famously never remembered where he parked.
The pattern isn’t new.
The mind that wanders is also the mind that wonders.
It leaves breadcrumbs behind while chasing something bigger.
The Science Behind the Scatter
So what’s going on up there?
Creative people tend to have:
Higher levels of associative memory
More activity in the default mode network (the brain’s daydreaming circuit)
Greater tendency toward mental simulation
This means:
You might be planning dinner while brushing your teeth
Or rewriting a conversation in your head while walking the dog
Or sketching your next big idea…instead of remembering where your Kindle is
It’s not a flaw.
It’s parallel processing.
And sometimes, parallel paths don’t sync up perfectly.
How This Shows Up in Everyday Life
If you’re highly creative, you might:
Walk into rooms and forget why
Double-book yourself
Forget birthdays, but remember dreams
Lose items, but never lose passion
Drop your keys, but never drop your vision
You’re not messy.
You’re mentally multidimensional.
But Is There a Way to Support the Creative Brain?
Yes.
If your mind runs like a river, you can still build little bridges.
Here’s what helps:
Sticky note systems for visible reminders
Voice memos for random ideas on the go
A smart key tracker like this one that attaches to your phone or wallet
Non-linear planners that let you dream and structure
Structure isn’t your enemy.
It’s your safety net.
It lets the creative mind roam without unraveling.
Your Brain Is Not Broken
We live in a productivity-obsessed world.
One that prizes punctuality, precision, and planning.
And while those things matter…they are not the only measures of intelligence.
Or value.
Or potential.
Some of the most world-changing humans were forgetful, abstract, peculiar.
That’s not a liability.
That’s an ecosystem of genius.
Creativity Isn’t a Straight Line, It’s a Spiral
You may misplace your phone.
But you can find connections no one else sees.
You may forget an appointment.
But you’ll remember a quote that changes someone’s day.
Creativity isn’t about getting everything right.
It’s about seeing what others miss.
And maybe, just maybe, misplacing your car keys is part of that.
How to Embrace the Mess and Still Thrive
Here’s what works (and what I do too):
Create anchor rituals (morning tea, afternoon reset)
Keep a small notebook nearby for fleeting thoughts
Reframe forgetfulness as curiosity that went sideways
Don’t fight the chaos, choreograph it
The goal isn’t perfection.
It’s permission.
Permission to be brilliant and disorganized.
Driven and daydreaming.
Human.
Other Stories You’ll Love:
The Things We Lose Lead Us to What We Find
The phone will turn up.
The keys will be in yesterday’s jacket.
But in the meantime?
You imagined something.
You wrote a line.
You found a new idea in the middle of a moment that wasn't meant for it.
And maybe that’s the real creative miracle:
Not remembering everything…but allowing yourself to be moved by what matters most.
