Task: Create A Home Operating System Part 5: Going Upstairs

Remember the rules: Walk around these areas, take note of what’s in each room, snap some photos if you think it’ll help, and let our questions get your mind working. Don’t forget to use the same notebook or digital document from these previous Home Operating System tasks: Common Areas | Security & Automation | Basement | Main Floor

Bedrooms

We have good news. Unless you’re the type that requires the bed be made a certain way, these rooms don’t really have much instruction. Do you care that much about your mattress? If so, explain it. Is there a CPAP Machine, or other equipment, that might need to be returned at some point? You’ll want to include important things like that in your Personal Medical Journal, but it’s good you’re being mindful of it now.

Bathrooms

These are also usually routine… unless something leaks, a toilet handle needs to be jiggled to prevent it from running all night, or a shower head regularly pops off and sprays across the room. There’s also the possibility of mold, or maybe a routine you have when it comes to cleaning out the medicine cabinet and replenishing it with non-expired toiletries.

Home Office

This can get a little tricky. Do you use this for an actual money-making venture or is it a place you get work done outside of the office? If it’s part of a small business, even if it’s occasionally selling stuff on eBay, we cover all that in a separate task. If it’s a place that’s used to handle household management, make it clear.

Think of all the equipment you have and how it works. The computer might need some explaining if it’s one that’s not used by anyone else in the household (plus, don’t forget to include the login info with your passwords). Then there’s printers, backups, perhaps this is where you keep the WiFi modem and router. If you have a shredder do you shred everything or just specific things? Is this where you have a safe or locked cabinet where you keep all the important household documents, like the deed, warranties, and mortgage paperwork (covered in the Proof of Ownership task)? How about the checkbook?

A home office can be one of those catch-all rooms with supplies and vital information, including other important legal documents we’ve yet to cover. So it’s not just a place to quietly concentrate on work, it could serve as the “IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, SEARCH THIS ROOM!”

We like to leave the cleaning and sorting to Marie Kondo and HGTV, but in this instance you should find the time to organize it so others can understand how it works, especially if you use the classic messy-desk system that only you can understand.

The Task

Walk through your bedrooms, bathrooms, and home office (if you have one) and put all the details your family would need in your Home Operating System notebook or digital document.

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