I do, actually. I'm good at setting up systems to track things. Like my keys? Always on the hook by the door.

I'm terribly unorganized, but I'm good with my keys/wallet.

I'm organised, mostly. There's only a few places my keys can be and if they're not on the shelf in the hall they'll be in my handbag or coat pocket.

I'm great with physical objects like keys/wallet/phone/etc. I'm terrible at filing things (physical paper or computer). That said, I can almost always find something when I need it; some weird way my brain works. Back when I worked at the Office of Government Slack™, my cube looked like a hot mess, but there was never a time in those two and a half years that I failed to come up with an important document or report.

That said, I would never consider myself "well-organized".

I am only organized because I FORCE myself to be so. Sometimes I've had people chuckle at how I always insist on putting things in a certain place, or always clearing things away when I'm done with them instead of leaving them lying around. It's not because I'm picky- it's because I can lose personal items in a featureless room. It's crazy.

Keys (on the hook by the door) is the exception to the rule of my disorganization.

Definitely organized. I never have to look for my keys - they're in a bowl on a desk at the front door.

Yeah, I'm pretty organized.

Oh, and the keys are always on the table by the door.

I'm appallingly badly organized, but I almost never have to look for my keys.

Because I know I'm appallingly badly organized, I take steps to make things as easy and foolproof as I can; for example, my keys stay on a six-inch safety pin that hooks to my bag strap.

I also have a weird facility for knowing where stuff is, even when it's somewhere in a confused heap and I don't remember seeing it, ever.

The first day of winter a few years ago, a co-worker arrived at work and griped about her lost gloves. I thought a moment, walked into the back room, stuck my hand blindly into the darkest corner (where neither of us had had occasion to look for weeks or longer) and pulled out her gloves.

We all gawped about it, and she finally stuttered out "Y-y-you're a FREAK! ... a useful freak, but still..." And she's right: it is freakish, even to me. I didn't remember seeing them, didn't know how I knew they were there, but when called upon, I found them immediately.

Yesterday, The Fella asked exasperatedly "You don't know where my backpack is, do you?" I didn't know that I knew, but I immediately and certainly responded "It's under the sofa." And it was.

My boss from that job used to call me from his home and ask me where his keys were.

That's right, he called to get me to remote-locate his keys for him. And often I could... though that's because his misplacement patterns were always pretty simple, not because I'm a psychic key freak.

I'm very organized. I label everything. I file everything. I put everything back where it should go. I make spreadsheets listing where things are stored with photos of the items attached. The only time I have to look for my keys is when my very disorganized SO loses his, borrows mine only to leave my set who knows where and yes, it drives me mad.

My organization skills pale in comparison to my dad, who saved every little glass jar left over from my baby food days, spray painted all the lids matte black, and built a wall of just-so sized shelving for the jars. He keeps hardware like nuts, bolts/screws, nails, springs, electrical bits in the jars, sorted by type and size. I doubt he's had need to visit a hardware store in 3 or 4 decades.

Yes. Never; they are either in my pocket or in the back door. That's where they end up when I come in with my hands full.

I'm untidy and absent-minded, but that is different from disorganized.

I can be messy, but it is an organized mess

I'm pretty organized but always wish I were more organized. Like, I think about better ways to manage recipes clipped from magazines, or what I really need and don't need to save for a professional portfolio.

My organization is in self-defense, too - because my brain is likely to be wandering all over the place, I don't count on it to be able to remember things for me. Habits and systems take the place of the simple attention that works for most people. My keys are in the "key basket" on the home-base table of stuff downstairs, with my wallet and sunglasses and pens and pencils and mail to be mailed, because if any of that stuff ends up anywhere else, the system breaks down and I spend a long time looking for the stuff while simultaneously cursing myself for my own inattention.

Systems are where it's at. I clip my security badge to the messenger bag I take to work - when I get to work I put it on, before I leave work I take it off and clip it back to the bag. My office key clips to a carabiner in the bag. When I get to work, I force myself to put it back right after I unlock the door. If I don't, I'll leave it on the desk.

I don't have a perfect system yet for remembering my lunch. I'm good at making my lunch at home - but I often forget to bring it. My morning routine needs tweaking.

Anyway, I'm externally organized, but not because it's a reflection of my internal world - just the opposite. Because my internal world is rather jumbled, and my attention flitting about like a happy butterfly, I rely on ways to externalize the things I need to store and remember. I don't depend on my own with-it-ness, because that would be folly.

My stuff seems to self-organize. I rarely lose my keys.

Extremely well-organized. I recently had to provide three years worth of monthly paper account statements for a hospital bill, and I had every single one. Would have done it in half the time if I had room in my apartment for a filing cabinet instead of just having stuff in a box. My keys are always in the front pocket of my messenger bag. Only time I've "lost" something in recent memory was when I thought that I should plug in and charge the office-issue kindle when I got home from work, couldn't find it in my bag, and found it plugged in and charging when I got home.

I'm pretty disorganized but keys and wallet are always in the tray in the front hallway.

I refuse to answer this question maybe because I once looked for my giant keyring in a medium-sized purse for 10 minutes before giving up, only to find said keys in, you guessed it, said medium-sized purse.

I would like to be well-organized but I'm not. I do always know where my keys, wallet etc are though. Also, my towel ;-)

Elsa, can I have your number?

I used to be organized, but life got more complicated. If the kitchen is ever actually finished, I'll have a spot for the keys. I lose my phone all the time. Why are the pockets in women's pants cut so that things fall out? Why is my phone black and not blaze orange?

Madamina, there are gremlins that move my keys, phone and ATM card around. Just this week, I looked through my wallet, pockets, car for the ATM card, then found it in my wallet the next day. Even with bad hearing, I could hear the laughter of gremlins.

To my credit, it's been ages since I mislaid the little dog.

Elsa, can I have your number?

theora55, I think this admittedly-limited skill only works if I know A) the lay-out of your house; B) the lay-out of your mind; C) how the two intersect. For example, I didn't know that The Fella's backpack had slid under the sofa, but I probably did know that he was lounging on the sofa with the backpack underfoot, and further that he would have looked almost everywhere else before he asked me.

Similarly, I knew that my old boss used to walk in the door, huck down his keys wherever, then call me without carefully retracing his steps, so it was pretty simple to ask "What were you carrying? Groceries? Have you checked the fridge? How about the fruit bowl?"

Why is my phone black and not blaze orange?

This is a question I started asking myself about all kinds of objects and accessories a few years ago, especially since I tend to dump out my pockets or bags full of black objects... into the bedroom full of black clothing. Lately, whenever I've had occasion to replace one of my crucial objects/accessories, I try to find 'em in bright colors.

Class folders? All go in brightly colored plastic sleeves, one color for each class (and ideally similar colors for same-day classes: M/W classes might be red, yellow, and orange; Tues/Thurs classes in blue and purple). I used to use bright grips on my (black) pens, but now I just put them back in my bag IMMEDIATELY after use.

My current make-up bag (which also contains crucial items like my medication) is flat black, and I reeeeeeeally need to replace it with something bright so I can find it on my way out the door. I've lately been scouting for a good handbag and messenger bag in a bright color: blue or purple or silver. I'm tired of losing track of my (almost always black) bags in this dim apartment full of black clothing and black coats.

I suppose this explains why every pair of bright purple shoes or boots I've ever owned has been worn until I wore holes right through 'em: because, quite simply, I could find both of them.

I ALWAYS know where my keys, wallet, cellphone, reading glasses and ipod are.

Beyond that, train wreck.

I'm a total mess, and usually I'm fine with that. I sometimes misplace my keys/wallet - I've got my keys and wallet on a thingy together, so that I can't go anywhere without having both, and that helps. I'm usually pretty good about retracing my steps and finding where I absentmindedly laid them down and walked away, though.

I've only had to ask for help once, in recent memory. I had my friend's car for a week, which meant I had an extra set of keys to keep track of. I was enjoying the freedom of not having to negotiate who got the wheels, but man what a pain keeping track of the keys. I searched for a solid hour and a half for those damned things before an appointment (at least I'm inclined to start looking early, since I like to be everywhere early rather than late). No luck. I tore the bedroom apart, checked all my pockets and the deep linty nooks and crannies of various bags and yarn totes, checked in the fridge (lamenting all the while all this stuff that I have, that I love, and am disinclined to get rid of - except when it seems to have eaten some keys) all to no avail. I finally called up Mr. Mirror at work in tears, and he quips "oh, I bet they're in that little blue bag you left in the car yesterday. I'll go check." Durh. It does not help to have an extra vehicle at hand if you leave the thing to make it go somewhere completely inaccessible.

I'm organized when I have to be - like getting things together for a morning meeting the night before. Or if something REALLLLY important that I don't want to fuck up is approaching.

Like Miko, I'm a tornado inside. Unfortunately, routine isn't as entrenched when one works for themself.

I look for my keys & wallet & phone frequently.

I thought I was organized until I read jamaro's comment.

But yeah, usually know where keys are because I keep them in a particular place. Glasses are more of a problem . . . they travel with me wherever I go, so sometimes I have to remember just where that has been.

And, I've been absent minded all my life. Organized, but so single focus that I tend to forget whatever I haven't been zeroed in on.

No. Never.

I use to just chuck my keys when I got home, but now I always put my keys in the same spot. I stay relatively organized but everything could use a good tidy right now. It can probably wait until Thanksgiving when I make it a priority.