Why you want a "Command Station"

When it feels like an area of your life never has closure....

There is a category of life events that are both random and frequently repeat. These can cause a space or mental process to feel disorganized, unfocused, cluttered and just uncomfortable. This category of activity doesn’t have a clean end date and the start date is usually unanticipated and during a time crunch.

We will talk through two concrete examples - people getting sick in a family with young kids and home maintenance or repairs.

First Example:

Command Stations for: Sickness with Young Children

If you have young children chances are someone in your family has at least one symptom of sickness at any given time. It’s a running joke with the pediatrician of the toddler with the everlasting runny nose. Is it from an existing cold or a new one? Half the time you don’t know and sometimes you are getting sick yourself and don’t have the capacity to keep close track. From a tactical standpoint what this means is there is always sickness related stuff on your counters, in your bathrooms, in your living spaces. Medicine bottles (some for the infant, others for an older child, still others for adults), small measuring cups, vapo rub, snot suckers, steam inhalers, occasionally prescriptions like antibiotics or inhalers with spacers used for kids. FUN STUFF. I haven’t even touched the tissue problem.

Give this stuff two homes in each room it occupies. Home #1 is a designated tray on your counters/open space. It needs to have a boundary, like an edge, and it needs to be 1000% out of any kids’ reach. If that is impossible in the kitchen try a magnetic shelf on the side of the fridge high up. Consider installing some high shelves in your living paces. The second home should allow you to pick up that tray (or shelf or whatever container) and put it somewhere you cannot see it, that is also 1000% out of reach of kids. This seems like a waste of hidden storage space (like in a pantry of cabinet) but for those rare moments no one is currently sick you can easily and seamlessly get that stuff out of sight and out of mind. You will be pulling it back out in a week anyway. As for the tissues? Special trash bag next to the couch. Throw the whole bag out daily and replace.

Second Example:

Command Station for: Home Maintenance or Repairs

Maintenance projects in a home, especially that you own have a natural, consistent, and mildly infuriating “stop/start” quality to them. Often you need to procure additional tools or materials to continue or wait for a period of time for something to dry or set. Often tools or materials will sit near a project site until a member of the household has the time and energy available to complete the project. Sometimes the materials stay out for a long period of time.

Suggestion: Give those collected materials a hidden home. Purchase a couple of lidded floor baskets (or alternative opaque container that you prefer) and make them a permanent fixture around the house. If projects are outdoor projects select a bend or outdoor appropriate storage. Tools and materials for open projects go in there. The goal is for the sight of the container not to bother any member of the household, so select it with that end goal in mind. When the project is finished the tools and extra materials should go to their designated space. Unused materials should make their way out of the house immediately, either to a donation bin or the trash if they do not have a designated home inside the house/yard.

That’s all for today!