Starting to transfer to a spreadsheet instead of my usual paper notebook I list all my electronics in to get a grasp on all my parts (towers, laptops, memory, motherboards, videocards, etc). Lately I’ve been on a kick of labeling all my shelves (medicine, linen, kitchenware) and trying to sort things into random plastic bins I’ve had laying around waiting for a purpose.
I realize I could dive into deep rabbit holes for every category. With electronics I’m thinking of documenting every chip, board, and component along with compatibilities. Pantries and personal goods could be inventoried and auto-reordered, better tracking of my tools and materials with service reminders for equipment, etc etc.
I’ve gone through years where I throw everything away and get rid of anything not used recently and years where I horde everything and anything. Seems moderation in both is key and why keeping it all in mind and documented seems like the right thing to do if you have the time to kill.
tldr, what tips or tricks do you use to keep up with all your shit?
Most people don’t do that. They just have general places to keep track of important things. Most people are far less organised than you.
Some people on here are saying you come across as mentally ill in some way, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I would hope you naturally find some sense of joy or fulfillment in keeping track of different types of databases for minor practical benefits. I’m no psychologist though.
sometimes organizing things is a hobby and can ease stress. in your full control and helps calm the mind. not for everyone of course, but I don’t think it’s an illness either.
I think this is a good question for a therapist. I mean no disrespect. Feeling the need to label shelves with the things on them sounds like a compulsion. As does oscillating between hoarding and purging and several other things you said. A therapist can help you manage these desires and keep you out of the rabbit holes.
I get rid of what I don’t want or haven’t used in years. No need to track anything.
Sounds easy. Well, straight-forward, at least. For such things i use “zim” (a desktop wiki). Tangibles (like a motherboard) get a page that contains “links” to all the variables and components you want to trak/index (the actual target pages don’t actually have to exist). I would the drop that page in a hierarchy of containers (building, room, box, etc). Then, you can locate the page using any of the backlinks (like, by component), and reference the page path if you actually need to lay hands on it in the future. There is also a search feature, but i like the backlinks.
I am Professor Chaos!
What in the OCD is this? /s
No, but seriously, I use only a spreadsheet for the things I need to track. Is there a proper small scale database solution?
Is this something people do? I thought I was accidentally on some niche hobby community but I think this is aimed at a general audience.
What kinds of things do you inventory? Everything? Electronics? Furniture? You mentioned pantry?
I hope I don’t come off condescending I’m genuinely confused rn.
Everything I’d want replaced by my insurance goes in a LibreOffice spreadsheet.
Never needed to file a claim using it, but it doubles as the place where I record warranty expiration dates, which has come in handy a few times.
It’s also been useful when buying replacements to see how much I paid in the past.
Oh, insurance. That’s a pretty good reason to do this. hmmm
If you need a computer to keep track of it, you have too much crap cluttering your life.
Lol, right, right.
Tell me again how to live my life?
I like being able to grab something from inventory rather than having to buy it again because I didn’t save it last time (for example, electronics components sometimes cost as much for one as it does to buy 10, or household hardware that only comes in multiples but I only need one for now).
Or the different tools for different seasons, like my gardening stuff that gets put away for winter - but before spring I need certain seeds and sprouting kits, but not everything. Being able to grab just the container of specific seeds, and just the container of one sprouting kit from storage is lots easier than grabbing a 50lb container with everything in it.
Or computer/electronics hardware. I have specific, inventoried containers for cables, adapters, components, etc, so if I need something I can check my inventory on my phone rather than “just order it from Amazon”, wasting money and resources.
Then there’s books, rather than keep them all on a bookshelf, they’re containerized (moisture-proof) and inventoried, when I want a specific one, I know exactly which container to get it from. And yes, there are certain books I find worth keeping around to re-read or when I’m looking for a specific bit of info.
Blankets, camping gear, household hardware (sockets, latches, door knobs, light bulbs, timers, extension cords, etc), exercise gear, seasonal clothes, 1all properly stowed and mostly inventoried.
Other seasonal stuff - cookware that’s used occasionally (crock pot, pressure cooker, roasting pan) are stowed and inventoried so I know exactly where they are, and I could even tell anyone exactly where to find them.
You may not see a value in this, but I’m not throwing away stuff that I know I’ll use occasionally. I’d rather have it stowed so my living space isn’t cluttered but it’s still reasonably accessible.
Plus the inventory is useful for insurance purposes - I don’t worry about being able to file insurance claims, as I have both a “written” inventory and pictures of everything (all properly stored and backed up).
People who own a lot always say what you say. It’s your life, so don’t apologize, but since you went into attack mode, here are some reasons you are (partly) wrong.
The post was about tracking everything. That’s obviously stressful, thus the post. Owning less is a great solution for some people for some items.
Owning things you occasionally use sounds like good financial sense. No need to rent. But owning them itself costs money. For storage. For shelving. For moving costs. And it takes time, when you need to search through your junk to find it again. Or you can’t, so you buy a new one, and now you have two. Have you done the math on each item you own? Are you actually saving anything? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
