Forgetting things can be annoying. From the little things like heading into a room and suddenly standing there aimlessly to the big ones like noticing how meaningful dates, details, and tasks gradually slip from your memory. We’ve all been there. And we all know that watching your memory go downhill can be concerning, irritating, and downright scary.

But if this makes you feel worried, fear not! The good news is that it’s just how our minds work. And apparently, it can lead to some pretty amusing situations, too. Because when our neurons go into brain.exe has stopped working mode, our silly forgetful selves end up in a variety of side-splitting scenarios that make us face reality. And then lead to utter hilarity.

Below, our team at Bored Panda has wrapped up a list of the funniest and most relatable pictures where people face the ridiculous results of their scatterbrained approach. So sit back, buckle up, and get ready to laugh as you scroll through this wild rollercoaster ride. Be sure to upvote your favorite pics, and let us know if you’ve ever experienced anything similar in the comments!

Psst! More of the same goodness can be found in our previous piece on this feature right here.

#1 I Forgot My Wife Was Away, And After I Rolled Over In Bed, I Saw This

Image credits: BristolBudgie

#2 I Forgot To Turn The Heating On In The Morning. Came Home To This

Image credits: Pascirex

#3 Forgot To Give Him His “Go” Command For Food. Poor Wee Pudding Sat There For About Ten Minutes And Didn’t Make A Peep

Image credits: Herwiththetwodogs

Forgot where you put your keys? Drew a blank on a birthday? Did going to the doctor’s appointment slip your mind yet again? We all know how easy it is to be embarrassed and feel your cheeks turning bright red whenever you fail to remember something. Especially when it comes to the most obvious things that often make you look like a complete fool and leave you seriously questioning your choices in life.

But don’t worry, you’re definitely not the only one experiencing these blunders. And forgetting these things is usually not that big of a deal. We at Bored Panda are firm believers that laughing off the embarrassment is extremely important, and thankfully, the internet is buzzing with brave people who think so too. The examples in this list even prove that being absentminded can cause some seriously funny consequences that will one day become entertaining tales you can whip out to entertain guests at your next dinner party.

#4 Forgetting A Special Day

Image credits: jessbowie

#5 Forgot I Had A Dentist Appointment And Didn’t Have Time To Change. They Think I Am Crazy In The Waiting Room

Image credits: Possibly_

#6 My Mom Swore She Already Made Me A Waffle, But We Couldn’t Find It. So She Made Another One And I Grabbed A Fork

Image credits: FrustratedLemonPrint

Moreover, there’s no need to be concerned about premature memory loss or your brain slowing down due to age just yet. Memory lapses can happen at any age and for several different reasons. Seth Gale, MD, a neurologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, told Everyday Health that when patients experience memory loss, doctors can drill down and find out what’s actually happening with their mental functions.

“For example, it’s common for people to still have the capacity to learn and store information, but because of their overloaded mental resources at this time of their life, they have trouble doing it well,” Dr. Gale said.

One issue that may play a significant role is nutritional deficiency. A lack of sufficient levels of B12, one of the B vitamins essential for normal nerve function, can lead to confusion and even dementia. Moreover, experiencing stress and anxiety can also affect brain function and lead to problems with attention and memory. This particularly relates to people who consistently juggle home and work responsibilities, sacrificing their sleep.

#7 Don’t Forget Your Seatbelt

Image credits: reddit.com

#8 Last Year I Forgot To Get Batteries For My Niece’s Toy So This Year She Got Me This

Image credits: panoparker

#9 My Wife Forgot To Leave For Me The Car Seat To Take Our Son To The Babysitter’s House. This Is The Picture I Sent When She Asked How I Was Going To Get Him There

I then turned off my phone for the next 4 hours.

Image credits: Big-D_OdoubleG

Speaking of sleep, Harvard Medical School found that inadequate sleep in midlife may lead to dementia. “If you’re currently only sleeping four to five hours because you’re up late working every night, you might want to change your habits, otherwise you risk developing dementia by the time you retire,” Dr. Andrew E. Budson wrote.

The lecturer pointed out that previously, the relationship between sleep in midlife and dementia in late life has always been a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. “Was it really poor sleep that caused dementia, or just early dementia symptoms causing poor sleep? By looking at individuals who were initially studied in midlife — some as young as age 50 — we now have greater certainty that poor sleep can increase one’s risk of developing dementia 25 years or more in the future.”

#10 Drew This For My BF This Morning And Forgot About It. Scared The Poop Out Of Myself

Image credits: EclipseCaste

#11 I Guess He Forgot To Switch Accounts

Image credits: lowtire

#12 Throwback To When My Mom Forgot To Submit My Senior Baby Ad For The Yearbook And Asked My Dad To Do It

Image credits: JestarAuthor

We’ve heard a million times that struggling to recall information is a sign of a worrying change. But sometimes, forgetting things is just how our brain works. Of course, sometimes our silly actions make you wish the ground would swallow you right up and hope that everyone can collectively pretend it didn’t happen. But if you believe you’re the only one facing these struggles, you might find comfort in knowing that forgetting things is only part of life. And people tend to forget surprisingly fast.

Here’s where Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve comes in. This model demonstrates how memories are lost over time and what we can do to reinforce the things that we learn. In the late 19th century, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus tested his memory over various periods of time and discovered that when you first learn something, the information disappears at an exponential rate. In other words, you lose most of your newly acquired knowledge in the first couple of days, after which the rate of loss decreases.

#13 I Asked My Son What He Wanted From Taco Bell. He Said He Wanted Nothing. Now He’s Crying Uncontrollably Because He “Forgot That Taco Bell Has Tacos”

Image credits: NuevoJerz

#14 Went In Our Supply Closet. Looks Like We Forgot To Give These Out

Image credits: inventorofinternet

#15 Put Both On This Morning To Get Wife’s Opinion. Forgot To Change Before I Left And Was At Work All Day Like This

Image credits: feltonpbeaver

Dr. Art Kohn, Professor at Portland State University School of Business stated that on average, 50 percent of information is forgotten after one hour, 70 percent in 24 hours, and 90 percent is lost in a week. Hence, what you do after learning and training is more important than what you do during.

“Forgetting is usually an active, adaptive, and even desirable process,” Dr. Kohn wrote. “After all, most of the things we remember (like where we set our glasses), are only of short-term importance, and after a day or so the brain needs to suppress such time-limited memories in order to free space for information that may be of more immediate value.”

#16 I Got A Panoramic Xray Of My Teeth The Other Day. The Dentist Forgot To Have Me Remove My Glasses

Image credits: maggiemoocorgipoo

#17 When You Live In Svalbard, Norway And Forgot To Close The Window To The Home Office

Image credits: Kjakan

#18 At My Apartments, You Need A Key Fob For Entry. Only Problem Is I Forgot The Key Inside. I Walked Out And Let The Door Shut Behind Me Before Realizing He Wasn’t Outside Yet

Now we wait.

Image credits: AlannaWest

However, the problem is that if you try to remember many different things throughout the day, your brain doesn’t know which of these bits of information will be useful to you in the long run.

“The good news is that while forgetting is a pervasive process, it is not random. In fact, it is possible to signal the brain that a particular piece of information is important and that it should retain it,” Dr. Kohn added. So when learners are forced to recall this new information in the following hours and days after training, they are much more likely to retain that information in the future.

Dr. Kohn refers to this as booster opportunities, a series of questions and quizzes after learning something new that allow people to better recall the information. “Your brain wants to retain information that is useful to you and purge information that is not. And so, if you happen to call that information into your mind in the hours and days after training, your brain tags that information as important and is more likely to retain it,” the professor explained. “If you use it, you won’t lose it!”

#19 Someone On The Ferry Forgot To Put Handbrake On

Image credits: User348844

#20 A Family Member Forgot To Turn Off The Sink Light Overnight

Image credits: natkrab

#21 I Left My Snow Broom Leaning On My Car And Forgot About It. When I Drove Away, It Had Frozen To The Ground And Stayed Standing

Image credits: Charles_W_Morgan

However, scientists recently presented a new theory that contradicts the belief that memories simply decay with time. See, every now and then, we tend to forget memories that are similar to each other to remember the novel or more interesting ones. The research proposed by Dr. Tomás Ryan, Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin, and Dr. Paul Frankland, Professor at the University of Toronto, found that forgetting some memories can actually be beneficial as this can lead to more flexible behavior and better decision-making.

#22 Put Them In The Oven On Purpose To Hide Them From Kids. Forgot About Them

Image credits: _Dahl_

#23 Their Flight Left 2 Hours Ago

Image credits: czmax

#24 Made Cake Toppers For My Wedding And Forgot To Check The Oven’s Temp Before Putting My Fiancée In

Image credits: flapflip3

“Memories are stored in ensembles of neurons called ‘engram cells’ and successful recall of these memories involves the reactivation of these ensembles,” Dr. Ryan explained. “The logical extension of this is that forgetting occurs when engram cells cannot be reactivated.” In other words, memories are still there, but they can’t be recalled: “It’s as if the memories are stored in a safe but you can’t remember the code to unlock it.”

“We propose that forgetting is actually a form of learning that alters memory accessibility in line with the environment and how predictable it is,” Dr. Ryan concluded.

#25 Remove Your Ice Tray To Get Unlimited Ice

Image credits: Zombilicious

#26 Uhh, Excuse Me Officer, But It Looks Like You Forgot Something

Image credits: QuasarsRcool

#27 I Picked The Ladder Up Forgetting The Paint Was On Top

Image credits: tiger_qween

#28 Dear Person That Drove Off With The Air Pump Still Attached To Your Wheel, You Forgot Your Teeth

Image credits: jseabrooke

#29 One Of My Students Forgot Her Cheat Sheet Inside Her Biochem Finals Answer Sheet

Image credits: Bigbluefartmachine

#30 I Keep Forgetting This Soap Dispenser Is Motion Activated So Every Time I Go And Pick Up Trash, I Risk Getting Soap On My Head. Today Was The Day

Image credits: Saladbbar

#31 My Father Forgot To Tell Me The Renovations Would Be Taking The Stairs Out Today

Image credits: reddit.com

#32 “I Think I Left A Window Open Last Night, Not Sure”

Image credits: ValueMaverick

#33 Forgot To Switch Back From His Fake Account After Complimenting Himself

Image credits: stutteringjohnm

#34 Forgot Spaghetti With Mushrooms In The Microwave For A Week. Now It’s A Floofly Ball Of Mold

Image credits: yanbochen

#35 My Friend Forgot To Check His Underwear Before Putting It On

Image credits: animasci_

#36 There Were 12 Minutes Left In The Washing Cycle When I Saw This

Image credits: No-Self7717

#37 The Employer Forgot To Delete The Final Line “If It’s Still Too Long Let Me Know”

Image credits: BryanRoberts72

#38 Friend Forgot He Had Bear Mace In His Car After Camping Over The Weekend, And The Hot Sun Turned It Into A Spice Missile

It shattered the windshield and coated the inside in no-no foam.

Image credits: californiagovernor

#39 Pretending To Travel The World But Forgetting To Pose In Front Of A Different Fence

Image credits: nikkimcr

#40 We Got Our Doors Painted During A Remodel And The Painters Forgot To Put The Plastic Covering On The Ground

Image credits: JosephKirwan

#41 Walked To Work In A Thunderstorm, But My Boss Forgot To Tell Me We All Have Today Off

Image credits: Radiskull97

#42 Left Beer In A Cooler Outside. Wife Found It

Image credits: kd9dux

#43 I Totally Forgot That Having “Now Playing” As A Face On Your Apple Watch Isn’t Just For Music, But Just The Last “Media” You Might Have Watched That Day

It’s the new watch, too, the one that doesn’t turn off the screen. Cringe for me and the amount of customers who likely saw this today.

Image credits: BalboBigggins

#44 Forgetting About Your Pizza For 8 Hours. Burnt So Bad It Looks Like A Double-Chocolate Brownie

Image credits: daddysnakeboi

#45 NYC Fireworks – Guy Films For 15 Mins But Forgets To Hit “Record”

Image credits: vanderpumptools

#46 Forgot My Plastic Spatula In The Oven While Heating Up My Lasagna

Image credits: jonek1999

#47 I Forgot To Take The Old Coffee Pod Out Of The Coffee Maker Before Making Cup Noodles

Image credits: superleo42

#48 Tried To Save Money By Having My Roommate Cut My Hair. She Forgot That She Took The Guard Off

Image credits: SirRinjez

#49 Forgot To Tell The Wife I Uncrossed The Plugs. Guess Who Doesn’t Have A Ready Dinner Now

Image credits: jabroma

#50 My Brother Tried To Dye His Brand New Nikes In Coffee And Forgot About Them For A Month

Image credits: reddit.com