Around 15 million of us will leave a cup of tea to go cold today while a similar amount will forget where they put the keys to their house or car.

Meanwhile, 12 million go to the shops only to completely forget what they went for - and the same will forget about wet washing in the machine, according to research carried out by National-Lottery.co.uk

PIN numbers, passwords and chores such as taking food out of the freezer the night before and charging your mobile phone also featured highly on the list. And more than one in ten admits forgetting to buy a lottery ticket which may have cost them a win.

The study also found men are more likely to forget things than women - even though women generally have more to remember.

Modern hectic lifestyles and increased workloads and pressures as well as modern technology were blamed for the increase in our levels of forgetfulness.

A National Lottery spokesman said: "Brits are busier than ever in their work and personal lives and it seems we just have too much to remember for our crowded minds.

The study found the technology boom has also played a part, leaving us with more gadgets than ever before to plug in and charge or take care of.

Despite work pressures it is within the home environment where most things are forgotten, such as credit card payments, children's school events or food related things.

The study found one in four people have missed an important appointment and nearly one in five have fallen out with a friend over a forgotten date or event.

It also emerged that despite the number of things we forget only one in four people actually admit they are forgetful.

Women fared much better than men in the report, failing to recall an average of two and a half things every day compared to 3.5 things for men.

(Agencies)