When working with Judy*, a client, I stressed how consolidation not only helps with being organized but also saves time. A couple of months later, she told me a personal story of feeling organized. Judy had a houseguest for summer. She has diabetes, and her morning routine included checking her sugar level in the kitchen, which is open to the living room where her guest slept. Judy kept her diabetes-related items in various places: bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. She would have to run all over the apartment each morning to find the things she needed and bring them to the kitchen to do the check. To avoid waking her guest, and to give herself privacy, she decided to consolidate the diabetes-related tools in one box in the bedroom so she can do the morning check discretely without disturbing the guest. Once she had all of the tools in one box, she realized how much time she saved by testing her level in her bedroom, before coming out for breakfast and getting ready for the day!
If you have noticed that having a houseguest or a guest in general prompts an organizational behavior changed, what was it? Did you keep up with your new organized habit when the guest went home?
*Name has been changed to protect privacy