A survey has revealed the shocking fact that almost one in ten parents has forgotten to pick their own child up from school or a club!
More than half have forgotten an important date such as a birthday, Valentine’s Day or a wedding anniversary. One in ten people have had the cheek to forget their own wedding anniversary and almost four in ten have forgotten a friend’s birthday. Other missed dates included hospital appointments, exams and Mother’s/Father’s Day. With more than four in every ten people admitting that they’ve lost an important document such as their birth certificate, driving license, passport or tickets. Three quarters of those surveyed confessed to having a junk drawer where they ‘file’ or stuff things. And with 58% of people admitting they would find it disastrous if they lost their diary or organiser, it’s a concerning state of affairs that more than one in ten have done just that!
And, interestingly when it comes to diaries, nearly eight out of ten people trust paper diaries more than electronic ones. It seems too that the people who use paper diaries are far less likely to forget important 'things' than those using electronic ones! Apparently, 83.5% of over 55s trust paper diaries more than electronic ones but more surprisingly 79% of youthful 16-24 year olds do too! Two thirds of people admitthey would forget things if they didn’t write them down.
According to the survey, more than a quarter of people class themselves as forgetful, and one in five classifies themselves as disorganised. The survey also revealed that we’re a nation of dedicated doodlers; over half of us doodle while on the phone. But those who work are the most likely doodlers. Women are also more likely to doodle than men. The most popular doodle was boxes, with other common doodles including flowers, stars, hearts, insects, people, objects and patterns.
The male/female divide threw up some interesting stats. While a mere 1.8% of women have forgotten their partner’s birthday, over three times as many men (6%) have committed the same sin. And nearly three times as many men have also forgotten Valentine’s Day (4.7%), compared to 1.7% of women. But interestingly, 45% of women say they have forgotten a friend’s birthday compared to just 28% of men who say they have done the same same. Or are men just not admitting to it?
Rebecca Jay, Managing Director of Dodo-Pad, said: “This survey has revealed what we at Dodo-Pad already knew – that people are inclined to forget and often disorganised, and need help organising their lives! I think it’s to do with how the Brits live; we all try to cram so much in. It’s something we cottoned onto a while ago, but this survey definitely proves it, and it shows that people are more disorganised than even we realised!”
Other interesting stats revealed by the survey include that 17% of people have lost their birth certificate, nearly 7% have lost their passport at least once and one more than one in ten have lost their driving license (11.3%). Women are more likely to lose an important document than men, with 44.2% of women admitting they have done it compared to 36.4% of men. (Or are men just not saying?)
January 2010
Tickbox survey of 1,383 UK adults for Dodo-Pad |
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
