Where should she disco? Who’s she? Who discos anymore? And I really don’t care. Except that was the message on my phone when I got home from my walk a few days ago. A reminder to myself that is. What the heck? Since I sent it to my business text, it must have something to do with organizing. But what?
To be honest, nothing that I can think of. And when I relooked at the message on my phone, it made absolutely no sense. Then it dawned on me…eventually. It’s the question that ‘talk to text’ heard as I noted an idea for this blog. Walking is one of my creativity stimulators, and I need to ensure that I capture useful nuggets before they dissipate. Preserving the intended idea is more than 1/2 the battle when it comes to interacting with my talk to text feature. I guess I need to speak more clearly. Well, obviously I do.
What it should have said was “where should this go?” That was the question posed by 4 of out 5 clients during that week. Ok, it’s probably one of the most, if not the most, often asked question from clients, friends, and family members.
Where should “something” go? Don’t look at me for a definitive answer. Where I would stash something might be completely irrational for you. So how do you decide if these types of decisions are too perplexing? Let’s walk through this hands-on, step by step.
Start Small
- Find one item. An item that you have no idea where it should be stored. Start with only one to avoid head-spinning overwhelm. Look at it, think about it, and then ask yourself the following questions to guide your decision-making.
- Where is the first place you would look for something like that? Put it there.
- What do you use it for? Is it room specific? For example, is it a hammer? Are most of your tools in a garage, shed, or utility room? A kitchen gadget should be in or close to the kitchen. Often the purpose will guide you to a general location.
- Once you’ve narrowed the location down to a room or exterior area, then determine where does it make sense within that room to place it?
- Event tickets? Tack them to a bulletin board or use a magnetic clip and place on the refrigerator.
- Umbrella or backpack? Hang it on a hook on a wall.
- Small appliance or binder/notebook? Place it on a shelf.
- Hairbrush? Consider a bathroom drawer or near a bedroom mirror.
- Food utensils? Store them in one kitchen drawer. The vegetable peeler seems like a utensil in your mind, so place it there.
You can go for more creative placements such as storing items by color or alphabetically or however you think makes sense.
Label drawers or cabinets with words or photos so you remember the theme of what it contains. There are some decorative labeling options available online or at craft supply stores where clerks can help with suggestions.
You can keep an inventory of rarely used items to refer to in the Notes App on your phone.
Still no idea? Go to #2.
If you’ve gotten this far, it’s time to get more specific. Proceed to #3.
Do you need to see it to remember?
If you don’t need to see it…
Are there drawers, cabinets, or surfaces where you would look?
If you’re still at a loss…
You can ask someone else for recommendations. Keep in mind, if that person isn’t available when you need the item, you may not be able to find it as it made sense to them, but perhaps not to you.
And, if you find that you are wasting too much time with frequent searches for everyday items, professional organizers can help you store and arrange items in a way that will help speed up locating what you need. That being said, there are some gadgets, tools, and gizmos that are rarely if ever used. Some are definitely more difficult to logically find a home for or locate in the distant future. For these, we try our best to stow where they make the most sense at the time. Fortunately, in those circumstances, longer searches should only be a rare occasion experience. These are the items that are useful to inventory on a list. Where’s the list? Good question. Start from the beginning.
