251–260 of 282 posts
Best cleaning / organizational tip I’ve learned : everything out of place goes into a tote. Every day shuttle the tote around the house to deposit the items in their rightful place. This reduces reorganizing to linear time
can you go around the house filling the tote? :)
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I used to be bad with keys. Now, in addition to having an AirTag on them, I have a hook for them right by the front door which I pretty much use religiously. I do have to go searching for my iPhone sometimes but not my keys.
I used to not have keys because I was too small. Then when I was about 8 or so my parents gave me keys and told me to put them in my pocket every time I leave the house. So I do. It's not difficult stuff. Saying "I'm bad with keys" has to be such a low expectation of one self I can't even comprehend. Like those people who say "I'm bad with maths", but even worse.
What I did used to do was be careless in tossing them somewhere random when I came back into the house when I did take them. I now have a keyhook by the door I consistently use. But, sure, be condescending. I'm sure it will serve you well.
Am I overlooking something, or is this just "have a junk drawer in every room".
Junk drawers accumulate homeless items. This is for temporarily holding items which you will move to a different, correct location either daily or weekly.
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I might just steal this idea from you. Having a partner who ”organize through chaos” (which I maintain is not an actual system) there are constantly treasure troves of knick-knacks everywhere, usually hiding important items. No matter how often I try to organize it’s always messy, I think this might be the answer. Thank you!
Long time lurker, first time posting because I love this concept and this is is how I (ADHD type) get stuff done without getting distracted. I've always thought it was the same as the bubble sort algorithm we were taught in uni. Take something one step towards where it belongs, and pick up anything going in the same direction you are. Repeat that a few times and everything gets where it belongs. Not the most optimal…
Pick things up (until both hands, arms, elbows, armpits, etc are fully saturated).
Put things away. DO NOT PICK UP ANYTHING AT ALL UNTIL BOTH HANDS ARE EMPTIED.
1) take out the trash
2) put clean stuff away (from your "sorting station")
3) pick things up
4) put things away
5) circulate (start from a bathroom or kitchen and spiral "outwards"), and begin the "pick things up" phase again.
Take out the trash removes "constipation" (the ability to "evacuate" or "clear" unwanted or unneeded items)
Put clean things away reaps the rewards of your prior investment in cleaning, and clears out your "sorting station" ... the necessary, temporary workplace for sorting or prepping clean items.
Picking things up (until saturation) makes it a game of ordering, organizing the held items where you're effectively pre-planning your drop-off route in order to remove the items from your hands.
Putting things away UNTIL EMPTY stops the ADD distraction of "doing something else useful" because you "MUST" complete the "pick things up phase" by "putting them all away".
Spiraling outwards from a bathroom generally means that a bathroom has an unambiguous "cleaned" state (trash, toilet, sink, mirror, floor, drawers, etc).
Bathrooms/kitchens generally connect to bedrooms or living spaces, and repeating the steps above (trash, clean, pick, put) in the bedroom or living area is effectively "guaranteed to terminate".
Saturate your arms, put everything away, repeat.
Best of luck!
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This is a good idea, as is the idea in the article. The basic requisite however is a desire to not lose stuff. My wife always loses track of her EarPods. My oldest kid always loses his pocket knife. I could have 20 holding pens in the house and they'd still lose their stuff, since the idea that you have to exert even a minor amount of effort by putting stuff in its place to save yourself much more searching effort ,…
It is easy to say to do this, but in reality what happens is I am deep in my thoughts and all of it happens on autopilot. I consciously understand it would save me time to put them correctly away, but there is just nothing triggering me to do it. If I had a very intelligent watch that dinged me every time I'm supposed to do it, I would do it. The tech is not there yet though. I think it's the multiple processes going…
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It is easy to say to do this, but in reality what happens is I am deep in my thoughts and all of it happens on autopilot. I consciously understand it would save me time to put them correctly away, but there is just nothing triggering me to do it. If I had a very intelligent watch that dinged me every time I'm supposed to do it, I would do it. The tech is not there yet though. I think it's the multiple processes going…
It is a skill that you can develop to maintain a basic awareness of what you are doing that you can break yourself out of autopilot to do the small things that you need to do.
My approach is to have separate “take-off” points near the entrance/exit of each room. Example: If I’m in my home office and find that some things need to go to the living room and some to the kitchen, I simply queue them to take off instead of taking a trip every time I realize an item needs to go. Then when I take a coffee break, I’ll grab all the items; drop the living-room items off on the way to the kitchen, and…
This is a good idea, as is the idea in the article. The basic requisite however is a desire to not lose stuff. My wife always loses track of her EarPods. My oldest kid always loses his pocket knife. I could have 20 holding pens in the house and they'd still lose their stuff, since the idea that you have to exert even a minor amount of effort by putting stuff in its place to save yourself much more searching effort ,…
That doesn't give enough credit to the original idea. I know it's an exaggeration, but 20 holding pens will totally defeat the purpose. The idea is to have one place in every room where you can put anything. This saves the mental effort of trying to recall what is the place for thing-at-point. There is a place, for all of them, don't think about it. Just dwim it into the holding pen.
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I used to not have keys because I was too small. Then when I was about 8 or so my parents gave me keys and told me to put them in my pocket every time I leave the house. So I do. It's not difficult stuff. Saying "I'm bad with keys" has to be such a low expectation of one self I can't even comprehend. Like those people who say "I'm bad with maths", but even worse.
I certainly don't take my keys if I don't need them like I'm not driving my car. Someone else may be driving. I'm just walking from my house. (I have a keyless entry system.) I basically only need my keys if I'm getting in my car when, yes, they generally go in a pants pocket or fanny pack or backpack. What I did used to do was be careless in tossing them somewhere random when I came back into the house when I did ta…
My system is, if I'm outside the house my keys and wallet are ALWAYS with me, doesn't matter whether I think I'll need them. I'm 40, I don't think I've ever misplaced my keys. Can't swear, but I really don't remember a single instance.
It's easy to fall into being condescending when all I see around me is people struggling with basic stuff. I get the impression "huh I must be a genius or something, I'm the only one that can do keys". I mean just look at the sibling comments "put keys in jacket", "what if it's too hot for a jacket urr durr". It's really astonishing.