{ This post is part of the 31 Days To A More Prudent Home series }
How many times have you set out to do a specific task and had to run to several different rooms for the items needed to complete the project?
I did this just last week while working on the budget! My finance notebook was in one room, the calender was on the refrigerator, the stamps and envelopes were in the desk in another room… And then I had to rummage through a few drawers to find the calculator that didn’t get returned to the correct place! What a waste of time and energy! (I got tired just writing about it!)
Mindy Starns Clark, author of The House That Cleans Itself
Clustering items into stations is one of the best ways to keep a home organized. It also saves time and quite possibly your sanity. 
You can create a station in three easy steps:
- Identify and collect all needed items
- Place items in a single container in the room you will use them the most
- Duplicate items that are needed in another place as well to avoid removing items from the station
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Oddly, I converted a breastfeeding rabbit trail into a station. The things I needed were always strewn about the apartment, so I gathered them together in a basket: a shield, lanolin, burp cloth, aspirator, nail clippers. Yeah, some of that sounds odd, but we had some issues feeding at first! Also, Ellen liked getting her nails cut when eating. It was just easier to do it then when she was sleeping.
Jenna
callherhappy.com
That’s a creative idea… It’s all about finding what works for you!
Love this concept. I do a lot of volunteer work and tend to have papers/notebooks/schedules in a few too many places. I’m going to work on corralling these projects into their own space so I can be more efficient with my computer time.
It really does make a difference. Good luck with your organizing!
If I were to name one item in my house that is always needed but never in the same place twice it would be scissors. In my kitchen, I have a pair hanging on a nail near where I prep during cooking. I have a pair in a cup on top of my china cabinet on the other side of my kitchen. I try to keep a pair in our junk drawer in the kitchen. I have a pair in my desk that right off from the kitchen (inside my pantry/office) & a pair in my pen holder on top of my desk, and can you believe it – when I need a pair, it’s like they have all vanished. I think my family hides them on purpose to drive me crazy. I’m really considering putting a chain on a pair and attaching it to the wall in my kitchen, so if someone uses them, they have to use it within the chain’s length. Do you have any other ideas on keeping stuff where it’s suppose to be when you have other people out to disturb your organization?
My suggestion would be to label each pair of scissors (for example, “kitchen” or “desk”). Sometimes a simple visual reminder will help encourage people to return items to where they belong. If you really want to break the habit fast, you could always charge a fine each time you find the scissors somewhere they don’t belong. It just depends how far you want to take it… lol Good luck!