Aid to failing memory

[mklotz]

Here's a paraphrase of a hint that I saw in a post on HSM...

I have my machine screws neatly stored in drawers. When I buy 100 of some type I need (because that's cheaper than buying five at the local hardware), I can't fit the excess into the existing drawer. So the box of 100 gets stored in some location away from the go-to drawers. Predictably, the next time I look in the drawer for one of those screws, I forget the 100 tucked away in their box. (Sometimes, I even end up buying another box.)

The trick is to take a few out of the box, paint them some vivid color (those quick-drying paint pens work well) and stick them in the drawer as a reminder that there's more on the shelf.

If you have a space-limited workshop (who doesn't?) you know that things get stored where there is space for them, not necessarily in the most logical location. Generalizing this scheme of storing one or two color-coded samples with the main stash can help take some of the pain out of space-available-dictated-storage.