Is there anything as frustrating as trying to find your car keys, glasses or the zapper? Honestly, I’ve torn the house apart looking for each of the above, often two of them at the same time. I’m especially bad with glasses and because I misplaced my good ones over Christmas, I’m now stuck with a pair that are too big for me. Every time I look down at the keyboard they slip down my nose and I’d need a plaster to keep them in place.

I only need glasses for reading and, as a backup, I bought the cheap glasses you get at the chemist to get me by. They are actually OK, but I wouldn’t think they are doing my eyes any good.

It’s always just as I’m leaving the house and I’m dead late for something that I discover the car keys aren’t where I think I last left them.

However, new research could help me overcome all this frustration. It seems that closing your eyes is the best way to recall memories and is more likely to help you find the accursed glasses and car keys. It appears that we are able to recall far more when our eyes are closed.

The study was carried out by the University of Surrey, and apart from helping to find glasses, it has useful implications when it comes to crime detection as well. In the study, volunteers watched a video showing an electrician entering a property, carrying out jobs and then stealing items. They were then asked to recall what they had seen. Those who had their eyes closed answered 23% more of the questions correctly. It seems that vision takes up a lot of our brain’s processing power and closing our eyes allows us to focus better. So now you know.

In this week’s Irish Country Living we have an eight-page supplement on filling out the CAO form. It’s packed with useful information and well worth a read.

The key thing to remember is that you can change your mind about the courses you apply for right up until 1 July. All you need to do now is fill out the form correctly.

Having put three children through the process, the lesson I learned is that you need to look past the title of a course and into the modules that make it up. It’s also critical to spread your risk.

When our son Ian filled out his first CAO form, he applied for every Level 8 law course in the country, but he didn’t get the points and was left with no backup. So if you have a dream Level 8 course, but think it will be a stretch getting the points, be sure to see what Level 5, 6 or 7 courses could get you there through the back door.

As the fellow says, there’s more than one way of skinning a cat, so good luck with it all.

Finally, don’t forget to enter our snowdrop competition on the back page. Between a visit to see the magnificent display of snowdrops at Altamont Gardens, a voucher for Robert Miller’s great selection of herbaceous perennials and a voucher for The Forge, Mary Jordan’s smashing restaurant, it’s a perfect treat and a great day out.