Quick personal note: I wrote the draft for this post quite a while ago and noticed today that I hadn’t officially posted it yet.
The strangest thing is that right this minute my left arm is in a brace while I’m recovering from rotator cuff surgery. I really have had to do things with only my right hand and arm for the last 8 weeks!
(Quick, take another look at the post’s title.)
Just in case my thoughts and words really do predict the future, I’m going to keep quiet while you read this, maybe all day. …Did I catch you grinning?!
We’ve all heard the term single-handedly. “She single-handedly tiled the bathroom!” I love words and word origins. I started thinking about where this term may have gotten started. Someone probably was able to complete a task quickly and efficiently – or literally with just one hand.
It may not be possible everywhere but I’d like to have certain storage areas organized to work in that way. Let’s think about it. How can things be retrieved from and returned to their proper place without needing two (or multiple) hands?
This seems to be especially important in the kitchen since we’re often multi-tasking there. Without moving away from stirring something on the stove, you may want to grab another utensil from the drawer. One hand to open the drawer and the same hand to grab the item. Nicely done!
How about dishes? Is your cupboard storage set up for you to pull out something using only one hand? I challenged myself to arrange mine like that some time ago.
I’ve limited glassware and cookware to only the basics that I use every week – no excess items that I rarely use. Glasses are not stacked on top of each other. Small plates stand vertically, cups are on hooks, plastic containers are in large milk crate bins below that make it easy for me to get just one item without toppling everything around it.
It makes putting clean dishes away a lot easier too. Think about ways you can single-handedly ‘staff’ your kitchen. It’ll be one systematic change that will serve you for years to come. (But not because you’re predicting you’ll need to have it that way because of an accident or illness! Do it just because you want to make it a fun challenge and have more efficiency!!)
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