How well are your organizing systems working for you?
In the introduction to this series I shared the following:
What is a system?
What 6 organizing systems do I think everyone needs?
What 5 questions can you ask yourself to see if your systems are still working for you, or if they need tweaking?
Now let’s take a closer look at each system…
System #3: Staging Area (a.k.a. Launch Pad/Landing Strip)
- WHO is coming and going from the house – You? Spouse? Kids? Roommate?
- WHAT needs to be taken to the car when you leave the house – Purse, keys and sunglasses? Backpacks, homework and sack lunches? Errand list, library books to return, and packages to mail?
- WHEN? This one’s easy: When you leave the home, and immediately upon your return. And all day long, when you identify something you need to take with you next time you leave the home.
- WHERE is a good spot to deposit the things that you come into the house with, and to collect items that need to leave the home — A new table just inside the door you usually use? An existing spot where everyone tends to dump their stuff? Can backpacks be hung on an adjacent wall or in an adjacent closet? Do you need a basket for each person?
- WHY do you need a Staging Area? Because it is less stressful to have one place to collect the things that you will need to leave the house with. You will save time and eliminate the last-minute panic of having to hunt for them, and if you dump your purse, keys, sunglasses, etc. here routinely, you will always know where to find them!
Copyright 2010 by Hazel Thornton, Organized For Life.
Social media links directly to this page are encouraged!
Please contact me for other types of reprint permission.
Return to main blog page to subscribe, search, etc.
Tags: family, keys, organizing system, staging area
