The cabinet has a spot for a Household Quick Reference binder which holds information about each member of the family. For example, in Ailin's section, I keep a copy of the daycare lunch menu as well as the annual schedule of events. There is also a section for important phone numbers, home management, the budget and local delivery menus.
On top of the cabinet are 4 baskets. For Yusuke and me, these baskets are a place to put cell phones, ipods, wallets, etc. when we are at home. The kids' basket holds all those hard-to-find-when-you-really-need-them-in-a-hurry items, such as thermometers, nail clippers, bug spray, sunscreen, vix, etc. The blue basket is my organizing tool kit and has a spray bottle of multi-purpose cleaner, a microfiber rag as well as a tape measure, pen and a notepad.
The second part of the Command Center is the white board, and I think I have written about this before. The white board has the shopping list, the week's menu plan, calendar, the cleaning & maintenance routine and 2 post it notes for keeping shopping lists of some of my less frequent shopping places - Costco & Ikea.
The third part of the Command Center is the tickler file. Each day of the month has a folder, and each month of the year has a folder. So, when I get paper in, I take care of it and file it for it's deadline day. If I get something that needs to be taken care of a few months from now, I would file it in that month's folder.
The tickler file needs to checked every day OR you need to have those important deadline dates written elsewhere - either on your to-do list, your daily planner, or your calendar. Otherwise, you will forget all about these papers ... to be honest, it has happened to me a few times since I made this tickler file and have learned this the hard way. I tend not to check my tickler file every day because I don't file many things in it. Some of these new practices take time to form into habits.
Okay, that's it on the Command Center.
3 comments:
OMG Mande did we talk about the "tickler file" or did you just think of that yourself? I have been doing that for years! It was my way of getting to all the household paperwork but keeping it out of sight. That way I can distibute the work for each day of the month and not be dealing with a huge to do list. Just with whatever is scheduled for the day. Love it. I had no idea you were doing it too.
-AD
Amy, actually, I did not know about the tickler file system until I took the simplify 101 class last fall. I set it up but have not gotten used to using it yet. In fact, the few times I have tried to use it, I either "lost" those papers or "forgot" to check for them. I think the key is to put important deadlines on the calendar as well, at least until one gets used to checking it every day. As it is now, I don't have daily paperwork to deal with, so it's hard to get into the habit! I'm trying though!
I love the tickler file, both the idea and the actuality, how did you make it?
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