HOW ZITA WORKS
One letter. One number. That's the whole system.
- Step 1
Give each container an address
Label drawers, totes and cabinets with one letter and one number: M3, T8, G2. The letter only has to make sense to you.
- Step 2
Put anything in it
Things in the same container do not have to belong together. Mixed drawers are fine. That's the point.
- Step 3
Tell Zita what went where
“Put the rivet gun and leather punch in M3.” She writes it down in your words.
- Step 4
Ask when you need it
“Zita, where's the leather punch?” — It's in M3.
The rest of it
The return loop
This is the one rule that matters. When you're done with something, either put it back at its address — nothing to say — or tell Zita where it went now: “Move the rivet gun to T4.” Her records and the shop have to agree.
Not everything needs a number
Hooks, shelves, walls, the pegboard: just describe it. “The framing square is on the hook beside the table saw.” No numbering required.
Projects
Active projects stay out and don't get recorded. An unfinished project you've stopped working on goes in a bin, the bin gets an address, and Zita records the project and its parts: “Put the unfinished lamp project in T7.”
Your words win
If you call them grabbers, they're grabbers. Zita doesn't rename your tools and doesn't invent categories.
Start with one container
You never have to inventory the whole shop. Add things as you come across them.