How to stop Losing & Searching for Things

What can you do today to stop losing & searching for things?


What are the pain points?

  • Misplacing items on a regular basis
  • Spending time and energy to find items
  • Feeling frustrated/annoyed by repeating the same tasks
  • Feeling out of control in your environment
  • Panicking when you’re in a rush

What are the causes?

  • Items do not have a designated home (place of belonging)
  • Stress, fatigue
  • Multitasking

What is the solution?

Step 1: Designate a Home for the item(s)

When picking a location, pick a place that is:

  • Easy
  • Convenient
  • Flows with your daily routine and lifestyle

Step 2: Pick a place to Store and Display

  • Bin/Basket/Bowl on a counter
  • Basket on a shelf
  • Hook on the wall
  • Rack on the wall
  • Designate a drawer
  • Box under bottom shelf

Step 3: Practice and Repeat Habits

  • Try finding and putting items back regularly for 7 days

Step 4: Adjust and Evaluate

You know you need to readjust your system if:

  • You place items in random places
  • You place items outside of the designated home
  • You have to search for items

Try to move the location to an easy and more convenient place that makes sense around your habits.


Example: “I always lose my keys, wallet, and glasses.”

Step 1: Designate a home

  • Near the entryway so I can drop and pick up items easily at the door.

Step 2: Store and Display Options

  • The right drawer in the entryway console.

Step 3: Practice and Repeat Habits

  • For 7 days I will put my keys, wallet and glasses in the drawer when I come home.
  • For 7 days I will retrieve my keys, wallet, and glasses from the drawer when I leave.

Step 4: Adjust and Evaluate

  • After 2 weeks, I started to put items on the surface of the entryway console.
  • I placed a beautiful glass dish on the entryway console to place my keys, wallet, and glasses.
  • I find it’s much easier to empty my pockets and pick up my stuff easily off the counter rather than open a drawer.

What things are you losing and searching for?

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