Tips & Tools: Home Base Command Center

Commit to a Home Base Command Center to Keep Your Traffic Moving
Vickie Minella

“The only difference between a mob and a trained army is organization.”
Calvin Coolridge

Whether you are a busy professional or a parent working out of/in the home, a home base must be established. The Police have a Command Post—as does the Fire department. The Army has a Command Station, and yes, even your home has to be ready for battle. If you are like most busy people, the daily routine can be less than graceful.

With a communication station, you will always know where to go to get the information needed to move you out the door and on to the next agenda item. Now this will need to be tweaked from time to time, but start basic.

For example, I have a hook, one color assigned to each child, to hang their backpacks and coats after school. Their binders come out and are set below with all papers needing to be signed or looked at, placed in a clip matching their hook color and hung from the white board labeled Home Base. Umbrellas are kept here as well. For better flow, socks are kept in baskets-again same color per child.

For the busy professional without children, you should still have this type of set up and can even utilize the color coding for your briefcase, gym or activity bag, or the various meeting bags for volunteer positions.

Items needed at the Home Base Command Center:

• Inbox
• Outbox
• Magnetic white board
  • with clips
  • a few magnets
  • dry erase markers and eraser
  • Calendar
  • Pens
  • Paper
  • Chargers for electronics
  • Clock
  • Optional: stapler and tape.

Be careful not to confuse the command center with a home office. This is set up for a quick in and out zone; not one to sit and reconcile bank accounts or pay bills.

Vickie Minella is a Professional Organizer, Productivity Coach and Speaker. She is also the Founder and President of Beyond Walls LLC. She helps busy people organize their lives through a systematic approach and offers motivation to set goals and empower their lives. Her company helps individuals, as well as businesses, incorporate her simple strategies to achieve more productivity, profitability and performance. Vickie is a cancer survivor and raises her three children single handedly by using her own motivational techniques and inner caffeine to get the most Rock Star out of everyday.