What did I do with that?

Is getting clutter under control one of your New Year's Resolutions?


As you declutter, you will move, give away, or throw away things. Months later, you'll drive yourself crazy looking for one of those things. You might even buy a replacement for something you still own, compounding your clutter problem.

I use a To Do manager than includes a Note feature. (I use Toodledo, but you can also use just a text file or other note organizers such as Evernote or Microsoft OneNote.) I have a note called Where I Put Things.

Anytime I move or get rid of something, I make an entry for the item and its new location. For example, I might have an entry for "Electric pencil sharpener -- Donated to UU church yard sale June 2015" or "Desk fan -- over the cabinets over the fridge, way back on the right out of sight."

That allows me to move things out of the area I use for my writing, giving me more space for the things I need for writing (books, manuscripts in progress, and so on). It also saves me time when I'm looking for something. If it's not where I think I put it, I just open the note and search for the item.

So start now. When you move, give away, donate, or throw away something, write it down. If nothing else, you'll get some satisfaction seeing things on the list that you actually rehomed.