For Now=Forgetaboutit

Are you one of those people who is constantly on a search and find mission, always re-buying the same necessities because you don’t know where they are and feeling frustrated because you can’t seem to break the cycle? If this sounds remotely like you, chances are that you may suffer from the “For Now” syndrome.

As you are likely to be a busy person, pre-occupied with the things that really matter like performing well at your job, being a nurturing spouse, friend or parent, keeping yourself in shape or finding parking, you may not be placing significant focus on what happens to things when they enter your home. Just coming in the front door you are generally greeted with mail and periodicals. You probably have packages in your hands. The phone is beeping. On your way out, there are even more distractions. So, what generally happens is that things get placed "temporarily" until you have the time to deal with them properly. You tell yourself, I will put this here for now – a drawer, a table, a pile, in a plastic bag – instead of in the room or cabinet where they actually belong. And there’s the rub.

When your things don’t have a permanent home, they have a tendency to become forgotten. You pay the price in lost time, productivity and low self-esteem. Fitting everything into a busy schedule is challenging enough without spending another 25 minutes hunting down missing keys, permission slips and overdue books.

In 2008, make the extra effort to develop and maintain logical locations for new purchases, important papers and indispensible tools like telephones. Don’t fall into the “for now” trap. Those are two words to eliminate from your vocabulary and you’ll stay on top of your clutter