Now, where did I put that?

The average American spends 40 minutes a day trying to find something that is misplaced.  That’s almost 5 hours a week that could be better spent on other priorities.  The top offenders in the “where is it?” category are wallet, car keys, purse and mobile phone.  So, how do you create an organizing solution so that you never waste that time again?  First, create a “home” for an item.  My wallet, when not in my pocket, “lives” on my bedroom bureau.  In the house, my purse hangs on a hook in the mudroom.  I hang my car keys on the key rack in the mudroom when I enter the house.  I carry my mobile phone in my pocket or in the house, it lives on the “charging shelf” in the kitchen.  By creating a routine and a system, we have a go-to spot for our things, resulting in much less lost time searching for lost items.  But what if I forgot to hang up my keys or my wallet fell out of my pocket, then what?

Ooops, there it is…

Have you ever tried to walk out of the house only to find that your wallet or keys are not where they should be? Or misplace your cellphone in the house and you can’t call it because it’s dead or on silent?  While I’m generally not a “product person”, I recently found a product that I recommend to everyone.  Tile is a small electronic piece that you can add to your keychain (the Tile Mate) and slip into a wallet, purse, or adhere to many electronics (Tile Slim).  Once you download the Tile app to your smartphone, you can “ring” the Tile to find the missing item.  If the cellphone is the item you’ve misplaced, you can use a computer or any other Tile.  Out of earshot?  The Tile will show up on a map, showing you exactly where the item is.

Losing keys or a wallet and scrambling around to find our missing items is stressful and time-consuming.  Creating a “home” for your items is a great Plan A and Tile is a great Plan B+.