Putting Stuff Away
#31
(10-30-2016, 10:28 AM)gMike Wrote: I always swore that if I hit the Lottery I'd hire a guy to follow me around and put my stuff away so I could find it when I need it.  That's probably not going to happen so I now make an effort to put stuff away after each use, not at the end of the day, after each use.  It takes a little extra time but really saves time versus looking for some tool/ruler/etc to do the next step.  It means more steps to go get whatever I need but it really has become my best way to work.  Before I forced myself to do this I spent a lot of time being pissed off because I couldn't find what I needed which decreased my enjoyment of woodworking.  It has also saved having to buy another "whatever" because I lost the one I had.  The "whatever" was never really lost, just misplaced to such a degree that it might as well been gone!

 I started that same thing a year or three ago. It works for me.

 I got fed up when my slop looked like the little shop of horrors and one could only guess where what was and how it got where it was where it wasn't suppose to be- if it was anywhere.
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#32
put things away? right away? but I enjoy getting so p/o'd to the point of risking an aneurysm.

Actually, I do try to do this to some degree, but the more hurried I am to get something done the less often I'm putting things away - read "this happens a lot".
I want to clean up and put things away when I'm done with a project, but by then it's getting late and I'm tired and ... it doesn't get done.
Compounded the next day and so on.

My shop is  mess. I need to get cleaned up and organized!
Ray
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#33
lil

After reading this thread I realize I'm such a slacker, probably a flawed human being. My shop is a mess, and I like it, but if you come in and start to "tidy up" I won't be able to find a thing. My question is, do I need, or will I benefit from therapy??????? What kind, touchy feely stuff, or are we headed straight for electrotherapy??
Worst thing they can do is cook ya and eat ya

GW
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#34
Interesting thread.

Putting things away doesn't come naturally to me, but I'm getting better. I've been doing a lot of organizational projects lately, like making drawers and tool holders for the shop, and having a single place for each tool is helping.

I keep telling myself that if a tool doesn't have "a place", then it will inevitably end up in "the wrong place", or at least somewhere that I cannot find it when I need it.

Like the rest of my life, it's a work in progress...
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#35
Ok, 2 different perspectives. My home shop is a pigsty. It has always been a mess. I try to clean it and then it just gets cluttered again. The reason is I do not put anything away. I open the door, put stuff in the first available spot close the door.

Now, at work (I work out of a box truck), I'm total opposite. I prefer to load the truck at the end of day. I start at the front of the truck and put the tools away working my way to the back, the trash and debris goes on last. I even load the trash in order, recyclables first, trash last. I've been trying to teach my coworker this for 2 years, either he is continually messing with me or he just doesn't care. It makes life easier on us when we get back to the shop.

If you ask me why I can't do the same thing at home, I can't answer, My wife has been asking for 24 years and I haven't answered her either.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.

Garry
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#36
I always put tools away and clean at the end of the day......a shop that is a fustercluck drives me crazy, can't stand it.
Busted my butt to have a shop with plenty of room and I'll be damned if its a mess.

I've a friend that can't keep a neat shop, he'll spend days cleaning, 1 week later, looks like a bomb hit the snap-on warehouse.

One makes the bed they sleep in.....

Ed
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#37
(11-06-2016, 03:51 PM)museumguy Wrote: Ok, 2 different perspectives. My home shop is a pigsty. It has always been a mess. I try to clean it and then it just gets cluttered again. The reason is I do not put anything away. I open the door, put stuff in the first available spot close the door.

Now, at work (I work out of a box truck), I'm total opposite. I prefer to load the truck at the end of day. I start at the front of the truck and put the tools away working my way to the back, the trash and debris goes on last. I even load the trash in order, recyclables first, trash last. I've been trying to teach my coworker this for 2 years, either he is continually messing with me or he just doesn't care. It makes life easier on us when we get back to the shop.

If you ask me why I can't do the same thing at home, I can't answer, My wife has been asking for 24 years and I haven't answered her either.

When I had my  picture framing shop it was always organized.  The reason was that I had all the tools I would ever need and a place for all of them.  I had a fixed shape and size for the materials (mouldings, mat boards, mounting boards, glass, etc.) so the storage of these was simplified.

In contrast I am frequently adding tools (without having added a place for them) and the materials are of greatly varying sizes.

I recall watching a show on TV which dealt with organizing your household.  The subject was a Manhattan dweller in a micro-sized apartment.  The advisor told the tenant, "You have a very limited amount of storage space and it is completely full.  Before you go shopping for anything, decide what you are going to dispose of to make room for the new item.  So if you are buying new shoes, then throw out one pair before you go shopping."

I don't think we are going to do that in the workshop, but the message is clear, "Before you go shopping for anything, decide on a place for it in advance of the purchase and make sure that that space is ready to accept the new when it arrives at home."
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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#38
This is so true. It's easier to keep a clean shop if you keep a clean shop.
Sounds obvious but not necessarily.
What I mean is that I find that when I get something clean, be it my shop or my sock drawer, I'm more motivated to keep it that way.
Ray
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#39
I should probably start a rule that I don't buy anything unless I have a place to put it.  Pretty sure that's the source of my messiness.
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#40
I put everything away, just ask the family. and if it's not where I put it, the the son ran off with it, really he did I swear it!

Just a bit from the empty nester and gawd I hope I can finally find my stuff!
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