Get Organized

Fishing season opens tomorrow in Minnesota and I've seen many guys rummaging through their garages getting ready for the big day. Seeing this activity made me wonder how many of these guys are ready to start throwing things because they can't find everything they are looking for. Things have a way of disappearing over the winter and by next fall the same guys will be looking for their hunting stuff that disappeared over the summer. Worse yet is when you get to your destination and realize that you forgot an important item. Take the time, either now or in the very near future to establish a dedicated location in your house that will become the permanent storage location for all of your sporting goods, a personal warehouse if you will. Take an inventory and make lists of everything you own for your sporting activities. Buy storage boxes or better yet get a plastic storage cabinet like the kind you use to store garden equipment in. They are fairly cheap and most can be locked. Now that you have your storage area and storage container(s) its time to put everything in its place. A checkout sheet is not a bad idea when you are pulling items out of your inventory. Treat your warehouse like they do for tools in high school shop classes. If you borrow out an item make sure you write down who got it and when. Make sure that after each trip you check your items back in. Another good idea is to make a trip list of all the items you will need. Adjust this list during a trip or two until you get it down to exactly what you need and don't need for each outdoor activity. Eventually, when a buddy calls to go on a fishing trip or to look for shed antlers you can say sure, give me a minute and I'll be ready. You can go down to your warehouse, pull out your list of needed items, pack them up and be on your way, confident that you have everything you need.