More Organizational Self-Mocking

I just completed a very satisfying organizational project: The two freezers in the garage. Neither needed to be purged, but my old hand-written inventory had pretty much run its course and the many new additions needed to be tracked. Also, both freezers were in need of some re-organization. So I spent an easy - and happy - hour going through everything, organizing items, and making new inventory sheets (one for the upright freezer and one for the chest freezer).

I replaced my old, random, hand-written lists with a nifty form I downloaded from www.thekitchn.com called the "leftovers log" (click and that'll take you to the specific post with the downloadable form). The first page is for a fridge/freezer combo (which I will use for the firdge/freezer in the house), and the second page is a freezer-only list. It's not anything fancy or particularly necessary, but just kind of nice (and motivating for a weirdo like me).

I, of course, had to put my lists on a clipboard, label the clipboard, and attach a Sharpie with a piece of yarn! And then I hung the clipboard right by the door into the house (also featured in the above photo are my can-crusher, garage door opener, and roll of shop towels).

I feel so very satisfied!

The Landing Strip

I have been making an effort to get more organized, but not in a superficial sense. I needed to tighten up my systems and routines to improve productivity and my ability to manage multiple roles at once. I read several frugality and productivity blogs, and have been trying to employ some of the ideas I've read about in a gradual-so-as-to-be-sustainable manner.

One cool idea is the "landing strip," a place where everything goes when you come in the door. In the picture you can see our landing strip. Specifically, there are places for the following:

Keys - a hook for each of us on the odd fish-thingie (scrounged from the Igors' garage years ago).
Cell phones, wallets, pocket items - the green bowl.
Chargers - to the right of the bowl, for cell phones, bluetooth headsets, and one of the camera batteries (the oneI use almost daily)
"In" basket - on the far left; all mail goes here until it is cleared weekly.
Pen holder - for last minute signatures and calendar notations.
Bulletin board - currently has stuff like the dogs' rabies certificates and the city dog license renewal form, the DMV certificate for DarlingMan's Pathfinder, a service notice for my RAV, and some sentimental stuff that's nice to look at on a daily basis.
Wall calendar - a regular one for dates, etc. and then a wipe-off one for lists of to do items, etc (that one isn't visible in the picture).

There's room in this space for stuff like books that need to be transported to work or to the library (there's one visible in the picture). To the right of the landing strip there's a place for me to put my laptop bag and purse, and the paper shredder and trash can are located here as well (for efficiency in going through the "in box"). To the immediate left of the landing strip is a space for the bag with my SLR camera equipment and tripod, which I like to have easy access to. Of course, there's a nice photo of DarlingMan and me displayed here, just 'cause we're so darn cute!

Our landing strip is in a great loaction, because in this house one can walk stright in from the garage door (our usual means of entrance) and into the master bedroom. Keeps the crap out of the rest of the house!

Having a landing strip helps me to feel more in control, and I like that. :)