Decide The Permanent Place
for Each Keep Item
Again, I can’t take credit for this tool. One of my clutter coaches Heather Wolfer thought of this process, and it’s brilliant. Hold the item in your hand (touch it if you can’t hold it) and ask yourself, “If I was looking for you, where would the first place I would look be?” and that is its permanent place in your home. Your job is to get it there, make it on an ongoing basis accessible, and potentially deal with the other things that are in its place.
Decide the Permanent Place for Each Keep Item
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Many people have found this technique helpful when deciding where their things should be kept. The gist is to hold or touch each item, then close your eyes and ask, “If I were looking for you, where would I look first?” The answer is its permanent place. The item and its permanent place should meet the following criteria:
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The item must not be irreversibly contaminated.
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The place should be a dedicated spot where the item is normally used.
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The place must keep the item accessible; three deep on a shelf is not normally accessible (depending on the item).
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As long as you are not creating a health or safety hazard, take each thing and, even if you can’t put it where you have decided its permanent place is, put it as close to that spot as you can for the time being. It may feel like you are just moving piles, but as long as you are not creating a health or safety hazard, you will deal with it when you get to that area by using the scaling process described in this book. I credit my lead clutter coach, Heather Wolfer, for this strategy. Thank you, Heather!