Does this happen to you?

[Packard]

When I had my picture framing business I had all the tools I needed at the very beginning and I set up a miter work station, a matt cutting work station, a glue-up work station,  art mounting station etc.  Each station had its own set of tools that never left the station.  That meant duplicates of many tools, but the efficiency was improved by having a screw driver at each station, a mat knife at each station, etc. 

That was the only work I did where everything was perfectly organized and remained that way. 

A big part of that was having duplicates of many tools, but a worthy investment.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.Each station had its own set of tools that never left the station.  That meant duplicates of many tools,

Every station/machine in my shop has a set of all of these:

Tape measure
Pencils (pl.)
Ear plugs (pl.)
6" rule
Engineer square or precision square
Awls (pl.; aka thumb pins)
A rare earth magnet or two (where the above are attached to)

and wherever a machine and a shop vac/dust deputy co-exist: an auto switch -https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...013-ivac-automatic-vacuum-switch?item=03J6210

 

[Packard]

I had set up my video camera and recorded a few hours of my back room work.  I found that I was going from station to station to find a wire nipper, utility knife, etc. 

I first got duplicates of the basic tools.  Then I found that I was replacing blades on my utility knife and that was slowing things down.  I bought a dozen knives and made sure they all had sharp blades at the start of the day. 

A video camera can teach you a lot about how to be efficient (if you have semi-repetitive tasks). 

 

[AlexThePalex]

Snip.Each station had its own set of tools that never left the station.  That meant duplicates of many tools,

Every station/machine in my shop has a set of all of these:

Tape measure
Pencils (pl.)
Ear plugs (pl.)
6" rule
Engineer square or precision square
Awls (pl.; aka thumb pins)
A rare earth magnet or two (where the above are attached to)

Ha, I devised a plan like that once.

I had this favourite Stanley tape measure, but somehow I always misplaced it. So when I got a chance to buy them for only a few euros each I bought 4 of them and devised a plan: I would put a tape measure, a stanley knife, a pencil, and a pair of scissors in every place I did stuff. So I put a set in the attic, in the study, in the garage, one in my main tool systainer, and one in my drill kit with the T15 and all its drill and bits and heads.

And then I find myself at a job with 4 tape measures in the systainer, and 6 knifes, but the scissors are nowhere to be found. And the only pencil I have with me has a broken tip, but no sharpener.  [huh]

But, in general the system works, I just have multiples of the most used tools so there's always one not too far from me. Only sometimes I just can't find something while I remember I just saw it the other day, and I know it's not my fault, but somehow the darker forces in the universe conspired against me and temporarily zapped it into another dimension to punish me for that one moment when I felt like not saying hello to somebody 15 years ago.

 

[Bob D.]

"And then I find myself at a job with 4 tape measures in the systainer, and 6 knifes, but the scissors are nowhere to be found."

Knowing me I think if I tried this I would end up with the same result Alex.

Oh, and don't forget glasses. I have reading glasses everywhere so I don't have to hunt for them and I know (but sometimes forget) not to take them with me when I leave the garage shop or basement shop, the truck, or the ham shack or anywhere else. But once in a while I forget to take them off and then I have two pair of glasses in one spot. But where do the second pair call home, that is the question.

 

[ChuckM]

I wear the same pair of eyeglasses in the shop or elsewhere, though there're several pairs of safety glasses (worn over the the eyeglasses). I have four types of ear protection, and the corded ear plugs, a dozen of them or so, are everywhere. I clean them from time to time. At any one time, there must be at least two dozens of mechanical pens scattered across the shop.

 

[Mini Me]

I don't lose things as I tend to put them back after I have used them but I do have another problem. I buy a lot online and when a parcel arrives I often can't remember what I ordered so it is a bit like Christmas sometimes when I open the parcel to see what I have forgotten I ordered.

 

[Bob D.]

I know earplugs work and I wore them for years at work.

But in the shop and when working in the yard mowing or
using the gas powered trimmer I wear earmuffs or Worktunes
radio headphones. I have one of those FM modulators from years
ago that were intended to pipe your music from a phone or
iTunes media player to the FM radio in your car. The one I have
has a pretty strong xmtr and I can hear it all around my yard
which is not large at .6 acres but it works so that's what counts.
I connect it to the headphone jack on my CD player and listen
while I work in the yard or the shop.