Did you realize that if you spend five minutes per day looking for any one given item, that over the course of a year you will have spent 30 hours -- or 1.25 days -- searching? And that means that over the course of your life, you will have spent thousands of hours looking for lost items!!
Life is too short, and you have too much to do, to spend this kind of time searching for things. But what can you do to stop the cycle of searching and save your precious time? See how many of these causes apply to you…and how to tackle them:
➜ Reason you search: Only one person knows where items are kept
Stop the cycle:
When a family member asks you for an item, show them where to find it instead of fetching it for them.
Child’s room: Invite your child to designate spaces in his or her room for items. This way they know where items are located. Then label, so they don’t forget.
➜ Reason you search: Items don’t have a designated location.
Stop the cycle:
Give items a logical home: We always know where to find a fork, and no one misplaces their toothbrush. That’s because these items have a consistent, logical home.
One location per type of item: If you keep items like medicines or computer cords in multiple locations, you’ll never know what you have in stock. This also applies to electronic files. Organizing into categories is key to prevention with your stuff, your files and your data.
➜ Reason you search: There is simply too much stuff.
Stop the cycle:
Declutter your space: Remove items that you don’t use, need, or love.
Shop smartly: Think before you click. Let the item linger in your cart. If you bring one thing into your space, make sure you remove one thing from your space.
➜ Reason you search: Ineffective or nonexistent organization system.
Stop the cycle:
Group like with like, organize items into boxes, bins, baskets or shelves…and then label those spaces so everyone knows what’s inside.
➜ Reason you search: Items aren’t put away where they belong.
Stop the cycle:
Time for clean up: If it will take you two minutes to put it away, do it then and there. If it will take longer, set a 10-minute timer and see how much you can get done. Repeat those ten minutes periodically until the job is done. I love playing energetic music during clean up time.
If all of this sounds too challenging, give me a call. I’ll help you get started and also set up a system that works for you and your family.
Now, what will you do with all the time no longer spent searching?
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