One touch rule
 

I recently read of the One Touch Rule. Basically when you pick something up, don 't touch it more than once. If you pick it up to move it , don't put it down until you put it where it belongs! Sounds simple but I never realized how often I moved
Something but not to its rightful place, just to another place where it still didn't belong. Now if I pick it up, I put it where it belongs! So far I have been able to follow the rule fairly well in most of the house but my sewing studio seems to defy it!

congrats on sticking to it. that's the method that i use when i'm doing a serious pick up around the house.

I like this "rule" - may have to adopt it myself!

Sounds like a good exercise. We have a two story house so I often will set items on the stairs and take them up on my next trip but it might be a good way to lose a couple of pounds if I traveled up and down the stairs more often.... just sayin’

I try to do that but it is also very distracting as I take something into another room, put it where it belongs, then I see something else and take it to another room and then there is something there, and pretty soon I get back to where I started.

After you use the rule for a while, I bet you find much less to put away. I read somewhere about another "rule" and I have used since fall and it is fab-u-lous! I never leave a room empty handed. For instance, if I am going from living room to kitchen, I take the mug of tea that has gone cold with me to the kitchen. In other words, I don't allow "stuff" to settle down in a room. Then apply the above rule. Don't set the mug of cold tea on the counter. Either warm it up to drink or throw it out and put the mug in the dishwasher or where you put dirty dishes.

After a couple of months of this, I have formed a habit that works for me. Low pressure and a much, neater home in general. Home is not perfect like in the magazines, but it is also ready to great unexpected guests. Besides, no one lives in the perfect magazine home. The greatest benefit for me is that I can accomplish my cleaning day routine more quickly and with a better attitude. End result, more time for quilting or reading or.........

I try but fall short of getting there. I seem to be walking form one end to the other end of the house with my hands full. I will just have to keep trying.

One touch is good and is how I worked in my office jobs. I have some hoarding tendencies and it is constant work and effort for me, but I have less stuff and more space all the time. Right now I want the space more than the stuff.

When dealing with fabric and collections and potential projects and such it is harder, I usually start with three piles: love, do something with, and trash. Keep what you love first, and then get rid of what you don't, Trash isn't used so much now. I put the designated to be purged things in one box and then put the assorted keep fabric in their proper stash boxes. I feel a bit too much pressure with kits as unfinished objects, but I do have a box that is collections of fabrics that work well together, if I feel the need for a new project I look in there first to see if anything inspires me. Makes just one box for me to touch instead of 20!

Take small steps, and get them done. At least that's how I work best. The goal to "get the sewing room organized" sounds good, but is too big a task and too broad. I find I can only work at organizational tasks/getting rid of stuff for about half an hour to an hour, a situation comedy on tv is based on 30 minutes (22 minutes plus commercials). Most CDs are about an hour. I designate a time period, and then check in with myself about halfway through the time to see if it is time to be wrapping it up or do I wish to continue a bit longer.

Once it’s in your hand, put it where it belongs - (I heard this said once & it’s good to follow)

I am basically a “neat freak” until I start my projects. Some times I have several going but it all comes together as I finish them.

My problem is that often times I don't have a place to put stuff-- it doesn't have a designated spot. So when I pick it up, I have a dear-in-headlights look, because I don't know where to put stuff... this is mostly in my bedroom, my sewing room has spots for most stuff....

One Thing That Helped Me
 

My sewing place was so piled up and I was so frustrated. Finally, I got a box and put everything in it that did not have a proper place. Then I found a place to put bigger piles of quilt tops waiting to be quilted. Just moving these things off my work surfaces really helped. The next day, I was able to find homes for the items in the box.

I am trying to get rid of the stuff in my sewing room that I no longer want. The one touch rule is nice in theory but not something that works for me. So I have been going through my bins of fabric and if I don't like it - it goes into a rather large box. (The thrift stores are not accepting donations at this time so it will be with me for a while.) Tools and items that I no longer use will go into another box and await the return to a somewhat normal state again. But I do have a question - I have templates and do you believe I should offer them to folks here first or just put them in the box? Some were used - some were not. Since I have the Accuquilt Go I have come to the realization the likelihood of them every being used is slim to none.

Posting them in the Offers forum would be a great start. You can ask for reimbursement of postage if you want.

I have been trying to do this in my sewing room. It works for a while then I start a project and it seems the plan fails as I end up with a mess I then have to tackle. I will keep trying as when I follow it I am happier!

Good Advice. I may have to give that one a try. For years as I have shop hopped Quilt Stores I have a 3 touch rule. If I pick it up 3 times, take it home. It's amazing how some fabrics are like a magnet and just jump into my hand, especially precuts.

That's why l like almost bare countertops and surfaces. I can see at a glance what doesn't belong on them. I started my kids young to put things away. Away usually meant tossed in their room but it was out of the main living areas.

The above method was taught to be by my mom and I have it etched in my brain " Always leave a room better then you found it" One habit I have always done is end of the night pick up. I hate starting the next day with leftovers from the day before so I make a sweep of the kitchen/living room before I go to bed. Yes I am alittle OCD lol

I have a similar saying that has helped me for years. “Now or Later”. Someone made this remark about cutting threads as you go. I have applied it to almost everything I do. At some point it has to be done. Why not now and it’s done I apply this to small tasks.

Multi-tasker is an understatement. Quilting is only one of my hobbies. I also cut glass to make stained glass panels and have hundreds of sheets of glass to store and organize. Plus...mosaics, etc. I get project ideas before finishing current project(s).
My strategy is to set a timer for 10 minutes to pick up and straighten up. It doesn't make the task seem overwhelming, and when the timer goes off, I keep going until comfortable stopping.

I am working on that rule right now. I am on my second UFO in the last 2 months.

Great rule! I use it for the most part in my home. The sewing room is harder since I have too much fabric for my storage areas. Although, the clean it as you go rule is harder. I need a deep cleaning with the walls and drapes done. It gets harder with my arthritis acting up. Oh I press on and do it but, it puts me in a painful way for a couple days.

As a chef, it is sort of like a rule we have in the kitchen. Never go from one end of the kitchen to the other without taking something with you. There is always something that needs to go back where it was/go to the dish pit/go out to get worked on and, don't put it down once you get there...put it where it needs to end up.

Watson

I"m pretty good about doing that in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc, but not in the sewing room! Although I'm trying to be better about that, I have a long ways to go.

This reminds me of a funny story. When I was younger, I was working full time as an agent in a real estate office, driving one hour each way to go to college full time and raising 2 small children with little help from my working hubby. My male boss called me into his office one day to tell me all about the, "one touch rule." He gave me a lengthy lecture on it, implying that I might be wasting time, in spite of being one of his best producers in the office. I often wonder if he reflects back on that conversation and ponders the fact that maybe it was a mistake. Probably not. I quit a month later and he went bankrupt a year later.

That being said...it is a good rule. :)

~ C