Clutter 101: The Landing Strip

June 11th 2007

clutter tidy home You come home from work or a long day out shopping. Your hands and pockets are full of coins, keys, paperwork and shopping bags. Where do you put them? If you don’t have a landing strip, then you probably leave them at the first bit of space you come across, whether it be the corner of your living room, on the dining table or on the kitchen surface. None of these places are efficient or practical. A place for everything and everything in it’s place, and that includes the stuff you have just walked into your home with.

The landing strip is that immediate space you come to as you enter your house where you can feasibly drop your baggage. Though typically this is a hallway, it can be whatever room you pass through as you enter/leave your home. The nearer to the door the better though.

So what makes up the landing strip? As a bare minimum you want a bowl, box or similar storage item so that whenever you come home, you empty your pockets of keys, phones, loose coins etc. That way you have a designated place for those sorts of items and when you leave your house you will know exactly where your door keys are. No more searching through pockets and behind the settee

Depending on how you deal with mail, the next choice is an in-tray or basket to collect incoming and outgoing mail (it’s good if the tool allows for you to seperate the two). Whenever mail comes through your letterbox put it in your in-tray. Likewise if you need to post some mail, put that on a seperate tray. As part of your checks for “taking off” you can then collect outgoing mail along with your keys, wallet etc all from one area. Don’t think it can be just used for mail either. You can also leave DVD rentals that need returning, books you want to share with friends etc.

The next tool you need as part of a complete landing strip is a cork board. While not quite as necessary as the other two tools, I consider it as the someday/maybe portion of the system and keep receipts, vouchers, bills and invitations here. When I come home I can immediately pin them up and as I have mine directly by the door I am reminded about the items on it on a regular basis.

You might also want to consider hooks for coats and bags. Whatever setup you have however, remember to de-clutter it on a regular basis like everything else. Get rid of out-of-date vouchers from the cork board, collect the loose change from the bowl together and throw away spam mail from the in-tray.

Finally, I have a small warning. The landing strip is not only the first place you will go to when you come home, it could well be the first place unwanted visitors will go to too, so consider the security of your home before leaving wads of cash and spare car keys there.

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