Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Use quick searches to find stuff you have stored

Whether it’s decorations, keepsakes, or just stuff you need to get rid of, it’s nice to store things “out of sight”.

It’s not as nice to let them get “out of mind” though! This week’s tip comes from hwebbjr, who suggests keeping a quick index of your storage so you can find things quickly.

Before I retired, I dealt with hundreds of files containing confidential information. To facilitate being able to locate what I needed quickly, I created a spreadsheet wherein I indexed all my files, locations, and content notes. A quick search could find the location of any document within seconds and I could retrieve any file within minutes.

Upon my retirement I found a similar system using RTM could assist me in organizing my closets and garage that are filled with storage tubs. Within seconds I can find the location of any stored item within seconds. Here’s my simple method:

1. Create a list titled “Storage”
2. Each task in the list is a storage location (e.g., Tub 1, Blue Tub, Box 5).
3. Items within the storage locations are listed as subtasks within each main task.

Now, a quick search (e.g., name:sweater) will find the location of all sweaters in storage.

Tags added to each item can be used to help create broader searches. So, if all Christmas items are tagged with the tag, “xmas-decorations”, the search, “tag:xmas-decorations” will return the location of all items with that tag. No more fumbling around looking for items that may be in 10 different tubs!

Thanks for sharing this tip, hwebbjr! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.