3 Secrets to Help You Stop Forgetting Your Reusable Bags

The phrase “practice makes perfect” has a neural basis in the brain.

Cornell Chronicle

We’ve all been there.

We know we’re supposed to take our reusable bag with us, yet somehow we find that we have forgotten them yet again! ARGH! Now, we have two choices, turn around go back to the car and get the bags or {groan} enter the store and walk out with more plastic bags when we finish shopping!

Ever ask yourself why this keeps happening? 

Well, more than anything else, it keeps happening because we are creatures of habit. The neurons in our brain form pathways that are “patterned ” to behave in a certain way. What’s worse, too many of us multitask or find ourselves functioning on”automatic”.

The truth is, you need to establish new patterns of behavior in order to remember your reusable bags and this takes a little thought and a little time.

Old habits die hard. If you are not stopping to put your reusable bags in your vehicle immediately after your trip to the store you will almost certainly “forget” them again.

So, what to do, what to do?

Believe it or not, you need to learn a new skill (remembering your bags) and change your behavior patterns. There is science behind this.

Christa Sterling writes in CCSU Continuing Education, “Each and every time we learn something new our brain forms new connections and neurons and makes existing neural pathways stronger or weaker. Some experts call these changes “plasticity” in the brain.”

Your 3 -Step Routine 

Before you go any further, take an inventory of the reusable bags you already own. If you only have 2 or 3 bags, that isn’t enough for most trips to the grocery store. You should have a minimum of 5 or 6 reusable bags in every vehicle you drive. Once your inventory is over, put them in your vehicle now.

Low tech is best. You need a reminder that you simply can’t miss in your vehicle. A sticker or decal placed on the driver’s side window or a hang tag on your rear view mirror is ideal. I recently found a company that can provide the reminders you need, and yes, you need a reminder, a visual cue you can’t miss to trigger your brain’s neurons.

Once you have returned from shopping and put everything away, STOP!!! DON’T do another thing until you have put your bags back in you vehicle.  No, you probably won’t remember to put them in the car before you leave because something always gets in the way. All that multi-tasking takes a toll.

This is the critical moment that will determine whether or not you forget your bags the next time you shop. This assumes that you already have your low tech reminder in your vehicle, because one without the other is a setup for failure.