Putting things in a "safe" place

[sjconner]

I need to stop putting things in a "safe" place. There are so many things I cannot find because I put them someplace where they would be "safe" so I could find them again. Copy of daughter's adoption paper work, my medic alert bracelet, mp3 player, kindle, art supplies, etc. I know I am doing this ... I wish I would stop. I am starting to feel like a crazy squirrel with caches of stuff all over the house. onder:

 

[N Sperlo]

Make some "cubby" shelving. Simple shelves that you can slide things into. If I had something similar, I'd stop leaving tools in random spots. I'm constantly wrenching on a car and set the wrench down, then I forget where it is. Usually I have someone else watching, so they keep track for me.
The "shelving" wouldn't work for that kind of stuff, but when it comes to paperwork and mail, cubby spots on my hallway table have helped out.

 

[qtowngirl]

ahhhh, do i ever feel ya. i've had that happen many times in the past two years. scared and stressed preparing for surgery and put whatever 'over here' or 'in there' so i'd remember it. and never did. still haven't been able to find my discharge papers from surg dammit! when i came home i put it somewhere special so i could grab for reference if needed. have looked now for three months, literally torn apart everything i own and nothing. so, i guess it is safe, from me

what about one BIG cubby, box, drawer, whatever, where you put EVERYTHING. just one, then write a note on the fridge where that one place is so you literally can't not find it. we go to our fridges enough, pretty hard to miss a note of the one and only spot everything that we're 'keeping safe' is. think that would work?

 

[valeriedl]

I have a filing cabinet with marked folders that I keep important documents. I try to put them in there as soon as I need to. I also have a cupboard that I keep owners manuals for things like the TV, computer and cellphone.

I pay all my bills on line. I have a letter holder that I put them in when I get them and a list of all the bills hung on the wall above my computer to check off when I've paid the bill.

I try to keep things in the same place and put it back there when I'm done using it (doesn't always work though). I find myself calling my cell, or home phone, lots of times because I can't find it.

I have a big box on the coffee table that I keep a good bit of stuff in so I know where it is. I like to crochet and have a bag that I keep the yarn, hooks, scissors and patterns in so I don't loose them. I occasionally like to draw and have a drawer that I keep everything in for that. I keep the box out that the pencils (or what ever I'm using at the time) and put them back in it when I'm done using that color. I keep the paper and pencils all in the same place while I'm working on something and most of the time don't loose it.

If I need to do something or remember it I tape a note somewhere that I'm not going to miss it. On the TV, a door, the bathroom mirror.

 

[kirsten]

I can sooo identify. A while back I filed all my papers away responsibly and now I have no clue where they actually are because there are too many files. These days I have a silly organisation scheme going. When I buy things with guarantees I keep the receipts in the boxes and don't throw the boxes away until the guarantee expires. They take up entire shelves in my cupboard so they can't be missed. I put my other paperwork in a drawer in the kitchen--I can't possibly miss that. And my new operating system has sticky notes so I put what is akin to a post-it note right on my monitor where I type out everything I need to remember and delete it as it happens. And I keep shopping and to do lists on my phone where they can't be lost (unless I put my phone in the taxi before i leave which I did last month). The key for me is to try not to be too complicated about filing but rather to use ONE place that I see all the time--no safe places for me. Safe means vanishing land where all those missing socks go.

 

[qtowngirl]

Safe means vanishing land where all those missing socks go.

:roflmao:

:agree:

:bigmouth:

 

[sjconner]

Most of the stuff i put in a "safe" place is stuff I do not want the kids (3 teenagers and an 8 year old) to get hold of. Notes to myself are written on the back of my hand and up my arm. My students tease me that I should have notebook lines tattooed on my left hand and arm.

 

[qtowngirl]

My students tease me that I should have notebook lines tattooed on my left hand and arm.

that's not a bad idea... onder:

 

[Endless]

Simple, 3 tier plan:

There's a small area in the kitchen for processing mail. Three-tier box on the wall for action items, outgoing mail, etc. Incoming mail is opened in the kitchen when it arrives, and is immediately processed to one of the following places
- recycle box under the sink (throw away)
- pay bill on laptop then shred
- place it in action item box to process later, like call to straighten out a mistake in a bill.
- Scan into neatdesk if it has to be kept. Neatdesk is a lifesaver for documents that must be kept like manuals, notices, letters, etc. Also keep it in the kitchen and scan everything in as the mail comes in. It organizes it into the right file on your computer. Expensive but worth it for the hopelessly confused. Soooooo easy to find everything.
http://www.neat.com/products?gclid=CIfpnpva8bsCFUdhfgodWXQAGA

Put all bills online, autopay. Then it gets paid, but the best part is there's a clear record of the payment and when they received it.

Legal records that require an original signature go in a fireproof safe.

Oh - notes to self go on my phone and are stored in an outlook-type app. My phone is the one thing I never seem to lose. I guess that makes it a 4-tier plan.