Safe Place
THIS is the story of my life…. I put something somewhere… I see it there where I know it’s at. Then I go to find it…. and it’s so not there. GAH! This toon was inspired by actual events. (A-I-L).
THIS is the story of my life…. I put something somewhere… I see it there where I know it’s at. Then I go to find it…. and it’s so not there. GAH! This toon was inspired by actual events. (A-I-L).
Where’s the camera it’s like your watching me?
I used to be ashamed of having a similar lifestyle, but that ended a long time ago when I read a magazine article. I think it was back in the late 80’s, might have been early 80’s.
The article talked about what was called the 80/20 rule. We use 20% of our resources for 80% of our needs; the remaining 80% of our resources are needed only for 20% of our needs.
Their primary example was our vocabularies. The majority of our speech uses certain core words (20% of the words we know) over an over, in similar combinations or even the same combinations but applied to a different conversation, comprising 80% of what we actually say. The remaining 80% of our vocabulary are “flavor words” we sprinkle here and there as modifiers but don’t use each one nearly as frequently – that remaining 20% of what we say.
Their point? That this applies to messy-desk types too! They tend to keep those 20% core resources in arm’s reach, because they will need it most frequently. The clean-desk types, because of their orderly layout, tend to spend more of their time retrieving and storing what they need than the messy desk types do.
So be proud! You’re not messy, you’re just more efficient! 😀 Of course, since then some of us figured out how to straighten the desk just a bit so it doesn’t look totally messy, but there sure isn’t any kind of “system” either.
I even apply the same thinking to taking out the garbage. I am NOT going to waste a trip (and my time) bagging up the trash then walking it out to the dumpster. I bag it then put it by the door. Next time I go outside I take the bag outside. Next time (maybe that same trip, who knows) I venture towards where the dumpsters are I take the bag with me. No wasted trips! Same goes for bags of cans for recycling, but the end target is my car, not the dumpster. And they’ll sit in the car until next time I go to the store, then I will take them inside.
(I drink out of bottles with lids, btw – any cans or bottles missing lids get rinsed, so no bug issues)
Wow. Waaaaay more wordy than I intended. Any other buttons of mine you planning to hit this week? 😀
I blame the missing stuff on Gremlins. I can put a pen I’m using down on an otherwise completely clear kitchen counter, turn my back, and when I turn back, the pen has vanished. Tear the whole kitchen apart — no pen.
Then, a week later, I’ll walk into the kitchen, and there’s the pen, right on the counter where I left it.
Gremlins!
Just remember “If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk the sign of?”
“Safe place”?
Not for long with Twinkie around.
Better there than in the recycle bin.
Randie and I have similar organizational systems.
G-Wolf… Ha, your mentioned 80-20 rule (Pareto’s Principle) is an economics theory that just about everybody applies to just about everything.
Yeh, that stack is a safe place to store stuff, until it falls over. I’m thoroughly surprised that Twinkie has not already pushed it over by trying to either climb or jump on top of it.