The hidden clutter creator right under your nose
The hidden clutter creator right under your nose
It's invisible but once you see it you can't unsee it.
We’re building up our system thinking skills here at Your House Machine. Defined systems and frameworks are so useful when I’m trying to understand a new problem in my house. Stocks and flows is one of those ideas that seems so obvious once you learn it, but few of us automatically think this way.
To illustrate the concept of stocks and flows, consider a bathtub:
The stock is measured as the quantity of water in the tub at a given time. Water coming in from the faucet grows that stock and outflow through the drain decreases it at whatever rate. Importantly, flows are the only thing that can change a stock — that’s key! Stuff doesn’t just materialize. It has to come from somewhere.
You can apply stocks and flows to better anything that accumulates (has a stock) in your home:
Mail (inflow = mail delivery, outflow = recycle or otherwise deal with your mail)
Packages (inflow = online shopping/delivery to your house, outflow = breaking down cardboard and finding homes for the items)
Clo…