Never Forget Your Top 10 Again

Someone asks you for a good movie to watch tonight, and your mind goes completely blank. You know you have favorites. You've raved about them for years. But in that moment, the only title you can come up with is the one you watched last week, and you didn't even love it.

I do this all the time. I'm Sherry, from the ShareTens team, and honestly, this exact problem is a big part of why I care about what we're building. So let's talk about why we forget our favorites, where they usually end up, and how to keep them somewhere you'll actually find them again.

Why your favorites slip away

Our brains are great at feeling things and not so great at filing them. When a book wrecks you in the best way, you're sure you'll remember it forever. Then life piles on top: new shows, new podcasts, a hundred recommendations from friends. The feeling stays, but the title fades.

There's also the "recency trap." Whatever you saw most recently tends to crowd out everything else. That's why "What's your favorite movie?" is such a hard question. You're not short on favorites. You're short on a way to remember them.

Where favorites go to hide

If you're like most people I talk to, your favorites are scattered across:

• Your Notes app. A list called "movies to remember" from 2021, three lists called "books," and one called "THIS ONE" with a single word in it.
• Screenshots. A recommendation from a group chat, saved next to 400 photos of receipts and parking spots.
• Your head. The least reliable storage of all, especially in December.
• Streaming watchlists. Useful, but they only hold what that one app carries, and they mix "loved it" with "might watch someday."

None of these are bad, exactly. They just aren't built for the thing you actually want: a short, ranked list of what you love that you can pull up in seconds and hand to someone else.

Why a Top 10 works better than an endless list

There's a reason "Top 10" has stuck around forever. Ten is small enough to remember and big enough to say something real about your taste. It makes you choose. And choosing is where the fun is.

A long "everything I've ever liked" list is easy to make and hard to use. A Top 10 is the opposite: a little harder to make, much easier to use. When a friend asks for a recommendation, you're not scrolling through 80 titles. You're handing them your best ten, in order.

Ranking also helps you remember. When you've had to decide whether something is your #3 or your #7, it sticks.

What's worth keeping a Top 10 for

Almost anything you have opinions about. A few ideas to get you started:

• Comfort movies for the nights you need something familiar
• Books you'd press into a friend's hands
• TV episodes you rewatch every year
• Holiday traditions, like your go-to Christmas movies or Thanksgiving sides
• Songs that always make the playlist
• Characters you'd happily hang out with

If you need a nudge, our homepage has holiday Top 10s you can browse and make your own, from Thanksgiving side dishes to Christmas comedies, at ShareTens. Starting from a list that already exists is a great way to warm up. You'll know right away which picks you'd move up, down or out.

The underrated bonus: gift ideas

Here's something I didn't expect when I started keeping my own lists. They turn into the best gift guide for the people around you.

Think about it. If your sister has a Top 10 of favorite shows, you're not guessing in a store aisle in December. You already know what she loves. And when someone asks you what you want this year, you can send them your list instead of saying "oh, anything is fine" (which we all know isn't true).

If you're shopping for someone who hasn't made a list yet, our gift quiz can help. It's five quick taps about who the gift is for, and it pulls ideas from our fan gift guides. It's a nice shortcut when you're stuck.

A simple habit that keeps your lists alive

Making a list once is good. Keeping it current is even better. Here's what works for me:

1. Start with one category. Don't try to rank your whole life in one evening. Pick the thing you get asked about most.
2. Write down ten, even if they're rough. You can reorder later. A messy first draft beats a perfect list that only lives in your head.
3. Revisit when something new earns a spot. Just finished a movie you loved? Ask yourself whether it beats your #10. If so, swap it in.
4. Share it. A list you've shared is a list you'll come back to. Friends will ask about it, push back on it, and send you their own.

That last step is the one most people skip. And it's the most fun.

Your list, ready when you need it

The next time someone asks "What should I watch?" or "What do you want for Christmas?", I hope you can just send a link instead of drawing a blank. That's really the whole idea: one place for what you love, ready when you need it.

Make your first Top 10

Making a Top 10 on ShareTens is free, and it takes just a few minutes. Pick a category, rank your favorites, and share the link with someone who'd appreciate it. Never forget your list again. Start your Top 10 here.

Share what you love ❤️

— Sherry, ShareTens