Smart Finders For ADHD Folks to Find Lost Stuff

People with Inattentive ADHD spend way too much time looking for lost objects.  I am not a big gadget advocate but I have found a gadget that is really helpful for folks with ADHD.  My neighbor got one of these from her husband on Valentines Day and I am amazed at how useful and time saving it is for people with inattentive ADHD.

I rarely buy gadgets as I do not want to waste money on useless stuff but I have not only ordered one of these, I have ordered one for my mom and my aunt who spend way to much time searching for lost cell phones, keys and wallets.  If you want to read about by transformation from a gadget spendthrift to a gadget ascetic, I have a long digression below this post.

The wonderful gadget that I am raving about is called an Orliv Smart Finder and can be found on Amazon where it is called; Set of Six Wireless Remote Control Key finder -- Never Lose again Your Keys, TV Remote, Cell Phone, Wallet, Glasses.  This gadget has a central control unit that has six color-coded buttons on it.  The smart finder also comes with 6 color-coded receivers, 4 are like key chain fobs but smaller and two have no key ring attached and are meant to be put on things like your TV remote or on your cell phone.  They are easy to attach with two-sided tape and they stay on but they do make the remotes and cell phones a little bulkier.  When you lose something you just press the central unit button with the color corresponding to what is missing.  You hold the button down and the missing thing will continue to beep and beep until you find it.

My neighbor lives about 120 feet from me and we were able to get her wallet, which was on her door-side table, to beep activating the central unit from my house.  The beep is nice and strong too and you can hear it from about 100 feet away.  I like that it works over a long distance and that the sound is strong as I often lose my stuff somewhere in my car and my car is parked about 50 feet from my house.

The cost of the Orliv Smart Finder is $50.00.  There is a cheaper key finder gadget called 2-Way RF FOFA® Find One Find All® Key Finder, Wallet Finder, Cell Phone Finder, Remote Control Locator. Set of 2. This thing is also cool and a little better in that it is cheaper and they way it works, if you can find even one thing, you can find everything because all the buttons act as a central unit.  The little pads that you put on frequently lost items are smaller too, which is an advantage when you are putting them on things like glasses.

The disadvantages, according to my neighbor's husband, who is a gadget geek and has a friend with a FOFA unit, are that the unit needs batteries often and the beep is very low when the batteries start to go, the unit only works if you are within 20 feet and if there are not a lot of walls in the way, and the little pads sometimes fall off.   He said that this unit is still pretty good and it is half the price of the Orliv unit.

Either of these things would be a cool birthday gift for any Inattentive ADHD child or adult.  I am thinking of buying my son the FOFA unit for his birthday so that he can put pads on his math book and on his shoes.  If I had a nickel for every time that child lost his shoes or books, I would be a millionaire.

Why I No Longer Buy Many Gadgets

I used to be really into buying kitchen gadgets.  I had this propensity for buying these obscure cooking implements that I would use like never. I bought this star melon carver thing, which is like a melon baller but instead of balls it makes stars.  I thought that the fruit salads that I made with it would turn out really heavenly except that I would never remember to use it when I made a fruit salad because I am predominantly inattentive.

 I also bought this creme brulee torch thingy which allows you to caramelize the sugar on the creme brulee except that I have yet to make creme brulee.  I also bought this plug in donut maker and I actually used that to death and the kids and I were devastated when it broke because, as far as I can tell, they no longer make this gadget.  Anyway, I would not buy another donut maker even if they did still make it because I no longer buy kitchen gadgets.

The reason I no longer buy gadgets has to do with this book that I read called Your Money or Your Life.
In this book the authors talk about what your 'spend money' triggers are and mine, at the time, were kitchen gadgets.  I vowed to change my spendthrift ways and decided to stop buying all gadgets.

I read that book over 10 years ago and I have stuck to my guns with regards to abstaining from gadget purchases.  The Smart Finders, however, have broken my resolve.  This gadget is something that I really need.