How Messy Are You? :)

[kbrown]

A little bit off topic but since I'm having to move most of my DIY hobby stuff from one place to another soon, it gives me a chance to do something about the big mess I always seem to end up with not matter what:

I suppose the biggest problem is that it seems nearly impossible to categorise all the little bits and bobs ranging from bolts to batteries, from screws to surface mount components, from tapes to transformers etc etc etc... If I did that and stored each category in a box for example, I'd run out of storage space very quickly. The table in the photo is very messy but I still sort of know where things are. It just sometimes gets annoying when you don't have any space left to work on the next brilliant idea you came up last night

How messy are you? How do you deal with the amount of precious junk you've accumulated?

[Stu]

I shouldn’t worry if I were you…… 😉

 

My office is always a mess, not the desk necessarily but I have scope kit all over the floor most of the time 😬

[alan potts]

I used to work in a mess when I was younger but now I like a bit of organisation about when I do things, I also like tools put back in the right place.

Alan

[Dr_Ju_ju]

To keep down on the clutter I've taken to keeping all the smaller stuff, in clear food container boxes, which at least let me see what's inside...

[Ratlet]

Mid job a bombs gone off, however as I keep telling my kids, the jobs not done till you tidy up.

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

I suffer from 'loosyitis', if I put down a pencil it's just gone. So I have learned to put back a tool as I use it, something my engineering colleagues from way back did. Ultimately it is quicker than a multitude of tedious searches in the debris for the one tiny thing you want.

[DaveL59]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

I shouldn’t worry if I were you…… 😉

 

My office is always a mess, not the desk necessarily but I have scope kit all over the floor most of the time 😬

Ahh an early paper volcano prototype I guess. I used to use that method at a place I worked where you were receiving so many meeting minutes etc. It worked well too, the top few inches of the pile held anything active and by the time papers moved toward the bottom of the pile and fell off the desk they were long dead and could be disposed without issue. When someone moaned and said I needed to "tidy that up" I simply lifted away the top 6 inches and binned the rest without checking what they were. They were horrified that I was disposing of something that may be important so I explained the methodology which calmed them down a bit 😉 

Edited September 30, 2023 by DaveL59

[wimvb]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

I shouldn’t worry if I were you…… 😉

 

My office is always a mess, not the desk necessarily but I have scope kit all over the floor most of the time 😬

A manager at a research facility where I worked ages ago had a variation of this message on his door: a clean desk is a sure sign of a sick mind.

If I recall correctly, his boss had a much cleaner desk. Probably because that person received more high profile visitors.

Edited September 30, 2023 by wimvb

[UKDiver]

Work is a fully hot desk environment and we're all but paper free. Everything not digital is locked away. This means client information is not available for anyone to read.

Home is a little different,  but the less printed material I get, the tidier I get. Journals are the biggest piles. I know I can get some digitally,  but I do like to be able to read at leisure and not on a screen.

Edited September 30, 2023 by UKDiver

[Peter Drew]

I've not seen anything yet that I would class as messy, the first photo describes my desk after tidying.  You may remember that hands down I won the untidiest workshop challenge a few years ago.     🙂 

[UKDiver]

33 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

I've not seen anything yet that I would class as messy, the first photo describes my desk after tidying.  You may remember that hands down I won the untidiest workshop challenge a few years ago.     🙂 

Have you got around to framing the certificate yet?

[Ouroboros]

I know where everything is.  It’s here somewhere …. errr …. errr ….

[Rusted]

A lifetime, mostly wasted on searching for missing things.
Had the singular advantage of regularly cataloguing where all the other stuff was.
Despite having the memory, of a particularly amnesic goldfish,
I could identify the source of all the dismantled bits.
From several hundred hobbies and passionate interests going back well over 60 years.
My late wife argued that there was no aircraft hangar.
Which I could not fill, to overflowing, with chaos.

[vlaiv]

I'm totally Lionel in this regard.

[globular]

I was going to reply to this thread earlier, but then I couldn't find it.

[alacant]

My boss tells me it's entropy and likes to see it at its natural maximum. Unless I'm working on his gear!

e.g. everyone's  favourite: INDI server installation and testing.

From this:

To this:

In under 5 minutes.

Edited September 30, 2023 by alacant

[kbrown]

12 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

To keep down on the clutter I've taken to keeping all the smaller stuff, in clear food container boxes, which at least let me see what's inside...

I'm sort of doing something similar. Often when working from home I order delivery for lunch and I prefer shops that deliver in reusable food containers Now I'm probably going to have to pay a visit to the local pound shop as well in order to pack everything up in order to relocate everything...

 

8 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

I've not seen anything yet that I would class as messy, the first photo describes my desk after tidying.  You may remember that hands down I won the untidiest workshop challenge a few years ago.     🙂 

Haha. Yes, this was also after a (sort of a) tidy up

Edited September 30, 2023 by kbrown

[Peter Drew]

8 hours ago, UKDiver said:

Have you got around to framing the certificate yet?

I would if I could find it, and something to measure it with.   🙂

[kbrown]

11 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Mid job a bombs gone off, however as I keep telling my kids, the jobs not done till you tidy up.

I can't really do that since I'm such a bad example

[keith5700]

I reckon I win this one. I’ve given up being tidy, just get the job done. Too many hobbies!

[Peter Drew]

Close, but I can see the floor down the middle!      🙂

[Rusted]

The casual dropping of a clean tissue on the bare floor didn't fool you, did it Peter?

BTW: That's not a real car. It is a decorative, workshop sofa in disguise.
Subtly placed for long periods spent at the lathe and milling machine.
The absence of cushions suggest deliberate defiance of workshop Feng Shui. 😏

[Mr Spock]

My workplace operates a 5S methodology. Clean and clear desk at all times. It's supposed to improve efficiency.

However, I used to spend half my time looking for things that should have been right in front of me 

[UKDiver]

1 hour ago, Peter Drew said:

Close, but I can see the floor down the middle!      🙂

Somewhere for Keith to sleep if he ever finds time!