The Friday review

Parts counters run an inventory count at the end of a period for a plain reason: the shelves drift. A box gets put back on the wrong bin, a returned part never gets logged, and small gaps grow quietly until someone counts. A household week drifts the same way, and a short count on Friday catches it early.

Late Friday afternoon, take the week's daily sheets out of their folder and lay them side by side. Fifteen minutes is plenty. Look for three things. First, any circle that never got struck through: copy it onto a fresh sheet for Monday with a new number. Second, any item that moved from day to day more than twice: it is probably too big, and next week it should be pulled apart into smaller parts. Third, anything that went unexpectedly well, so you remember how you did it.

Then put the week's sheets away and start a clean folder. The weekend begins with nothing loose rattling in the back of the mind, which tends to make Saturday morning lighter than it otherwise would be.

If Friday is a busy day in your house, pick another fixed slot. What matters is that the count happens on the same day each week, so it becomes a habit rather than a decision.