This is a guest post from Tara of Birmingham. I've been blogging about my home life since February 2010. In Decent Order is mostly about organization and simplifying the home.
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http://indecentorder.blogspot.com/
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In my home, the way things get accomplished happens in a variety of steps. One, I have to make lists. I *require* an external hard drive (the lists), because my built-in one is all jacked up. I can't remember anything anymore. Two, there are various spots in my home that are "to do" areas. I call them "queues." (Although "cues" would work, too... more on that in a second.) These queues are a holding area where items wait until I can get to them.
One particular queue resides on a ledge that separates the dining room from the front entry and stair way. This queue is where downstairs things are put when they have made their way upstairs. (Does this happen to anyone else?... Man, our stuff seems to get rearranged by little elves or something. All. The. Time.) As I run across items that belong downstairs in the sewing room, guest room, family room, or garage, they get placed on the ledge. The next time I make a trip down, everything gets put away. The whole idea is to save steps, and to keep stuff in my line of vision so I don't forget about them.
An example: my husband Dave fixed a little car for the kids over the weekend. He had to glue the wheels back on it. Imagine that, my wild children broke the wheels off a toy....let's just say that's not that unusual. Anyhow, the car and the glue ended up on the ledge. The car was there mainly to dry, but the glue needed to go back into the workshop area of the garage.
I won't forget about putting the glue away because of where it is. This is where "cue" would work because seeing the item in the queue gives me a visual cue that the thing needs to be taken care of. Get it?
A few other queues ::
- The deck outside the back door is a queue for trash. I don't always take stuff out to the big garbage can right away, so I might stash the trash, a few recyclables, and an outdoor toy on the deck to all be addressed at the same time. I am outside a lot, so gar-bage (said with French accent) doesn't usually sit there for longer than a couple of hours.
- A chair in my
- There is a bench near the door of the garage that is a sometimes-queue for things that need to go out to the car for various reasons. Right now, for example, there are some adoption documents lying there. I need to go to the doctor and get them filled out, but I don't want to carry them out to the car until I am actually ready to do that errand. I don't want them to get crushed or torn up. This is a typical example of queues helping me not forget about getting stuff done. Those papers will be in my field of vision every time I leave the house. And, since that spot is often empty, it will stand out to me that there is something there that needs attention.
So, what are your queues? I bet you have them, even if you haven't done it on purpose. Sometimes a little basket or tray is an attractive way to establish a queue. Any other queue ideas out there, friends?
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