How to avoid losing items? Holding pens.
I put it in a safe spot.
-- a phrase my mom would always say when she’d lost something.
Why do we lose things inside our homes?
When we are interrupted or need to hastily respond to a new demand, we often make quick decisions about where to place physical items. We always place them in locations which make sense given our current state of mind, but often that state of mind is fleeting, and so we forget where we put our things.
The ideal solution is to have assigned place(s) for each item, and only ever store items in their assigned places. For example, my keys are only ever allowed in my back right pocket, the keychain hook in my backpack, or the bottom-left cubby of my nightstand.
However, we regularly run into 1.) items which are too transient/unimportant to have memorable assigned place, 2.) instances where we don’t have time to take the item to it’s assigned place (e.g., because it’s in another room).
Solution
Holding Pens: designated areas in every room which exist to hold anchorless items.
A holding pen:
- Is a tray roughly 12" x 18", so it can fit most items you need to put down.
- Has a small lip on the sides, so items don’t fall out.
- Is located in every room, so the activation energy to use a holding pen is approximately the same as placing the item down randomly.
- Is always used to store items, unless an item is being placed in its permanent location.
- Is cleaned out regularly—ideally daily, at most weekly—, so that it doesn’t become a storage area.