Jessie's granddaughter, who was staying at Jessie's
house for the weekend, scraped her knee and needed a band-aid. Jessie looked in her cabinet where she thought they'd be. She could not locate any. She looked in her purse. None in there. She looked in the medicine cabinet, but came up empty there too.
As a last resort, Jessie walked over to Angie's house...her next door neighbor. Angie knew exactly where to look. She opened a kitchen cabinet, pulled out the first aid kit, and gave Jessie two band-aids.
When Jessie returned to the house, she patched up her granddaughter's knee. Jessie also acknowledged to herself that she really needed to stop this endless search she was always conducting.
Last week, it was for a screwdriver that she misplaced. A few days ago, it was for a battery she needed (she never did find that). Today's band-aid search was the last straw in her mind.
The endless search wastes so much time and is extremely frustrating.
Here are 5 ways to
ensure you don't find yourself endlessly searching for something:
1. Give everything a home. No matter what it is, give each item you own a specific home (like keys hung on
the key ring near the door that exits to the garage, scissors in the mug sitting on your office desk, band-aids in the first aid kit in the kitchen cabinet.)
2. Don't put it down
"just for now." Items that get misplaced are items that were temporarily put down just for now. When you're done using something, whatever it is, put it back in its assigned home.
3. Get rid of clutter. The more stuff you have, the easier it is to misplace something. Then, hours are wasted trying to find it in the sea of clutter. Along these same lines, don't put a large item (like a 3-ring binder) on top of a small item, like a sticky note that has an important phone number on it. Once you do, that small item becomes suddenly hidden from view.
4. Use Bluetooth trackers. For important items that simply cannot go missing (like your car keys, your child's favorite stuffed animal, your purse, etc.), Bluetooth trackers are great tools to make use of. If you want to know the location of the item, as long as that item is within a certain number of feet (usually around 200 to 400 feet) you can find it using a phone
app.
5. Keep items "visible." Keep all of your storage boxes well-labeled so you know exactly what's inside them. Update the label if you place more in that
box.
Personally, I like using storage boxes I can see through.
You might also consider keeping a computer list of "hiding places" for items you need, but don't need often. It might look like this:
Business envelopes: Basement closet near stairs
Table Linens for Guests: Armoire in Living Room, Bottom Shelf
Hand Mixer: Top cabinet above refrigerator
If you can't recall where these items are, you can just look at your list.
