Our busy lifestyles mean five important tasks or facts slip our minds during the course of a typical day, a study has revealed.
Failing to return calls and reply to emails are the most common omissions during hectic days at work.
And forgetting colleagues' names, leaving paper in the printer and neglecting to grab our packed lunch on our way out of the house also feature high on the list.
More than half of those surveyed blamed their forgetfulness on trying to do too many things.
A quarter said they were expected to remember too much, and a fifth said there weren't enough hours in the day to deal with everything.
The problem seems to get worse with age, with more than half saying they forget things more frequently as they get older.
And modern life adds to the burden, with one in five forgetting important passwords and a quarter not remembering to charge their mobile phone battery.
A further 12 per cent get a rude awakening every weekend because they forget to turn their alarm clocks off.
Seven out of ten also said they had become dependent on to-do lists to keep their lives in order.
Putting rubbish out, taking laundry out of the washing machine and doing the washing up were all among the 20 things most frequently "forgotten".