Five years later, now that I occasionally wear skirts, I sometimes find my hand going to my hip and then panicking because OMFG MY KEYS ARE GONE.

And even though I’m in college now and only need one key (my dorm room), I still carry around my old house keys in my right front pocket…

I think (and this is true for many people) that my keys, my watch, and my glasses are just plastic and metal extensions of the self.

Here’s one made with a mini Leatherman. Not bad at all….

Also, I installed a keypad/PIN deadbolt on my front door, so no keys necessary for that. I highly recommend it.

All of this is on a giant lanyard. Sounds like a lot (and it can be bulky in a purse), but while I’m at school, I just need the lanyard and a phone when going out or to class.

At my school, we have to touch our ID to the touchpad to get in the gate to our building and again to get in the front door. We still need a room key, though, which bothers me.

I also have multiple keyrings: one with the backdoor and car key that I need the most (car is parked at the back), one with the keys for classrooms and a locker at the college where I teach that I keep in my briefcase, one with keys needed at the front of the house (front door, mailbox, parent’s front door key – they live next door), and another one with keys for the back of the house: garden shed, parent’s back door and garage key. The last two keyrings are stored in a central and easily accessible place in the house.

This trick I learned from my grandmother: keep the keys in an order that makes sense, e.g. the locks you pass when walking through the house from front to back. It makes it much easier to to find the correct key, in particular when you have different keys that look very much alike.

Great articles!

On the plus side, now I have: car key, house key, work key. Plus eighty gazillion of those little store cards… but at least they don’t jangle.

I think this is a great tip (especially for unclutterer) because it allows you to memorize which side is up and prevents you from having to fumble with your keys, turning them up and down and around trying to fit them in your door.

Of course, the previous tip assumes that all doors use jagged edges UP — and we all know that’s not always the case (although it is in mine). So having each key placed on your key ring in the up position (ready to be inserted into a door), it will shed off precious seconds or frustration in trying to get inside or locking the door when you are in a hurry to leave.

My only fear (being one of the people that needs this blog) is that I won’t remember what the removed keys are later or that i won’t be able to find them when I need them.

1. I have one with my apartment key and my car key, and I always carry that one. I don’t have a keyless entry system for my car, so it’s just two keys and not two keys plus a fob.

2. I have one with the work keys (front door and our office space) that stays in my work bag. The only time this is an issue is if I take that bag traveling and leave the keys out of it and then forget to put them back in before I go to work, or on Halloween when I didn’t carry it because it didn’t go with my costume. Luckily, I’m not the only one with keys, so I could still get into my office, although if I got there too early, I might have had to wait outside for a couple of minutes.

3. I have one with apartment complex-specific keys (laundry room/pool key and mailbox key) that stays in the house unless I’m going to the laundry room, the pool, or the mailbox.

4. I have an extra house key on one of those stretchy things that goes around your wrist that I take when I go walking.

5. I also have keys to my parents’ house and my mom’s car. Since I very rarely use them, they just live alone and unattached on the counter with the other keys.

1. Main one (black swiss army knife) which holds my screen and front door keys and the post office box key. It used to also hold my work keys when I didn’t work from home. This keyring is used daily. (Oh – and when I’m feeding a friend’s cat I attach a separate keyring to mine to remind me)

2. Car key and clublock key. This hangs on a hook on the Kitchen dresser until I need it.

3. Also in the same hook is another keyring which holds the garage keys (front and side doors) and the back gate key.

I also have a tin in the kitchen which holds spare keys for friends in case they lock themselves out or need their cats to be fed.