This is part of my series on How To Be A Good Person.

I don’t know about you, but losing stuff, whether it’s keys or my phone or my glasses, is exceptionally stressful, and fills my anxiety jar faster than almost anything else.

To combat this, I established a permanent home for essential items when they are not on my person. Here are some examples:

1. Keys, Wallet, and Glasses — On my nightstand.

2. Kindle Paperwhite & Library Books — On my nightstand.

3. Phone — On my nightstand where it charges as I sleep. It’s worth mentioning that my kids don’t have the passcode, and I never let them play with it. (I’m a mean parent!) This way, it never disappears or gets lost.

4. Birth Certificate & Passport — In a locked fire-proof box.

5. Work computer — I keep it in one of three places
a) On my table in my home office.
b) In my laptop bag next to the door that leads to the garage — put there the night before I go into the company office.
c) On my desk at my company’s office.
My kids don’t know the password, so there’s no temptation to mess with it or lose it.

6. Kindle Fire — My kids play with it during periods of “screen time,” but then it “goes to bed” and charges in my bedroom.

7. Batteries — I keep my cache of AA, AAA, and 9V batteries in a couple plastic pencil boxes, on the black Ikea shelves, in my home office.

8. Extra Printer Paper, Notebooks, Notepads, and Technical Books — On the black Ikea shelves in my home office.

9. All other books I’m not currently reading — On the brown bookcases in my home office.

Designating a home for each of the crucial items in my life resulted in me rarely losing them. And I never have to buy duplicates because I misplaced the original ones e.g. phone charger and AA batteries. Consequently, my anxiety is lower, and I feel better about life.

So try it out: create a place in your home for each of your essential items. Your life will be better.

Be well, my friend.