(Or ten gift ideas for loved ones who do. Also, 2 tricks for you if you do.)
1. Get a cord or chain and hang them around your neck. We sell some fairly functional ones. We don’t recommend beaded chains as they tend to break and/or get tangled, but if you fancy something a bit more special try Etsy (it’s a website where craft makers sell their wares. Also we asked Totally Locally Scarborough for their suggestion of the best local shops to try, and they suggested perhaps having something custom made by Mags Hollingworth or Chris Rose Linacre, both of whom have work at the pop up shop in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, or try Luckenbooth in the market vaults.
2. Get a glasses caddy so you always put your glasses in the same place.
3. Get a pair of glasses with indoor lenses. That way, you’ll put them on and forget about them. It’s reading glasses that are lost most often because they are constantly being taken off and put back on again. Proper indoor lenses, customised for you, can be graded so that when you look down through the lower part of the lens it helps you focus on your book, and when you look up you look through a different part of the lens and can see across the room to your family, friends or colleagues or the TV. So you put them on and leave them on.
4. Store your glasses in the neckline of your top. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s better than putting them on your head, don’t do that, it stretches them, we value our precision fits.
5. Have a bright, visible case you always use.
6. Get a gadget. Something like TrackR or Tile can provide a way for you to find things you lose. They are still a bit big for use directly on your glasses, but at least you could find your glasses case.
7. Train yourself to take care at key places, or when things happen such as interruptions. The most common places to lose your glasses are: the swimming baths, in a taxi, in a night club, on the train, in the library, at an airport, on the beach, in the pub or at a restaurant, in a hotel and at the gym.
8. Buy an eyeglass pin (again, try Etsy).
9. Train yourself to be aware when you put your glasses down. One way is to literally say it out loud “glasses on the sideboard”. Hearing yourself say it helps you remember it (our hearing provides extra memory capabilities).
10. Get an eyeglasses stand, and don’t put down your glasses anywhere else. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/69149584/nose-eyeglass-stand-mint-green-…
So there you go, ten ways not to lose your glasses. But I promised you two bonus tricks, too, for if you do lose your glasses. Ready? Here goes:
Trick one: Try making a tiny hole in a piece of paper or card, and peer through that. The small aperture helps you focus.
Trick two: If you are short sighted and can’t find your glasses in your room, try taking some photographs of your room from where you are, with your smartphone. Being short sighted you’ll be able to see the image, which is an in-focus shot of your room .. clever, eh? Zoom in and seek your eyewear.
Do check your glasses are covered by your house insurance.
And never put down your spectacles lens-down. One day, or over time, they’ll get scratched right in the middle, where you need to look.