Now that I've realised I didn't lock the door, what should I do?

Have you ever had the sinking feeling that you’ve forgotten to do something and can’t remember what it is? We’ve all been in that situation. We’ve all had that moment when we realized we forgot to lock the door as we were leaving. So, what’s next? The best we can hope for is that no one goes seeking for unlocked doors in the area.

Though it may come as a surprise to you, leaving the house without securing the door is pretty frequent. According to a 2017 survey, 58 percent of New England households do not secure their doors. If you think that’s terrible, consider that 74% of homes in the Mid-Atlantic region don’t lock their doors. For some of us, the idea of purposefully failing to lock the door is inconceivable. We realize it’s simply too dangerous. However, this does not imply that we never forget. We get so caught up in getting ready and getting out the door that locking up falls by the wayside.

One solution is to use smart locks.

You may begin to worry about how you can prevent doing it again the instant you notice you didn’t lock the door. Smart locks, for example, are one solution. They’re so good that Vivint included them in their list of the top five features to look for in a new home security system.

Intelligent locks are electronic locks that are linked to a home automation system. What makes them so clever? Any mobile device with an internet connection can control them remotely. They can also be programmed to lock and unlock automatically based on particular criteria. Take a look at the following two scenarios:

No.1 Using Your Phone to Lock

Assume that you and your family are about to leave the house. You have a long day planned at the beach. You expect your adolescent son, who is the last person to leave the house, to lock the door.

You don’t find out until you’re sitting on the sand, soaking in the sun, that he failed to do so. There is no need to be concerned. You take out your phone, open your security app, and swipe your finger over the screen to lock the door.

No.2 Auto-Locking Behind You

Perhaps using your phone to lock doesn’t work for you. After all, during the 35-minute journey to the beach, someone may have broken into your house. There is, however, another option. You can use geolocation to program your smart locks. When your phone’s GPS function shows you’ve left the house, your locks will immediately activate. As you can see, both approaches deal with the same issue in slightly different ways. They both have one thing in common: you don’t have to choose between going home and locking your doors or staying at the beach and taking chances. Unlocked doors are no longer an issue when coupled with smart locks and home automation.

Other Options

One approach to reducing the possibilities of leaving your house unprotected and unattended is to install smart locks. But, if you don’t have intelligent locks, what are your options? You have a restricted number of alternatives, but they are there. Consider heading to the beach for the day in the same scenario.

One option is to leave your family and spouse at the beach while you travel home to get your belongings. It is possible, but it will take 35 minutes to drive home and 35 minutes to return to the beach. With a few minutes to check on your house in between, you may be looking at wasting up to 90 minutes trying to address a problem that didn’t need to happen.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, consider the following options:

No.3 Send Your Son Back To His Parents

If your adolescent son is old enough to drive, you could send him home for neglecting to lock the doors. He can now squander 90 minutes of valuable beach time. On the other hand, do you trust him to repair his own errors? Maybe it’s not such a good idea to send him.

No.4 Make a phone call to a friend or a neighbor.

Perhaps you and your neighbor get along well. If that’s the case, take out your phone and call someone. Hopefully, your next-door neighbor is home and willing to go over and lock your doors. It’s worth your time to give it a shot. You have even more alternatives if you have friendly relations with multiple neighbors.

No.5 Get Ahead of the Game

A third alternative is to call it a day. The entire family gathers their belongings and returns home together. It’s possible, but your adolescent kid will become the public’s worst adversary. More importantly, the entire family suffers as a result of one person’s failure to act responsibly. It’s not a good situation.

No.6 Embrace the unknown

Finally, you might stay at the beach and gamble. It is, after all, Saturday.

You anticipate that the majority of your neighbors will be present. When people aren’t at work, the chances of a criminal breaking into your area are small. You could be acceptable for this one day. On a weekend day, taking chances sounds like a good idea. There are no promises, however. It simply takes a few seconds to get access to an unlocked house without being noticed. It’s just as simple to get out as it is to get in. Would security professionals, even on a Saturday, be willing to accept such a risk? It’s not a good bet.

We are safer because of technology. All of this has a lesson to be taught. It’s official: technology is now making us safer. Smart locks didn’t exist 15 years ago. They’re on their way to becoming mainstream today.

Families are increasingly installing them because they recognize the advantages of having remote and automatic control over their doors. When you realize you’ve left the house without securing the door, you have a few options. Whether you like it or not, the sort of lock on your door and where you are at the time of your epiphany have an impact on your decisions. One thing is sure: an intelligent lock eliminates the problem rapidly.