Put the Baskets Where the Mess Already Is

In K.C. Davis’ excellent book How to Keep House While Drowning she advises replacing messy piles with baskets. This may seem like a stopgap solution, but if the “real” solution isn’t working for you, then it’s darn bad at its job description.

The key, Davis notes, is to put the baskets where the mess already is. Your piles are the proof of concept flagging where baskets are needed. Chair covered in old clothes? Basket right there. Not a foot away in a slightly less convenient “more organized” place. Right there (where it’ll actually be used).

Here’s an example from my life:

I make notes on ideas to write about on my phone. These are often put off for that magical moment when I have time to sit down at my computer and write… except those moments never seem to arrive.

So the notes pile up.

The ideas go unshared.

But my stopgap solution? My basket? Find a way to blog from my phone.

I think this can be applied to several more areas of life.

Ultimately, it’s about doing more of the thing you want to get done where you’re already doing some of the thing instead of waiting for the perfect conditions.