Many years ago, I had a guy work for me who, as it turned out, was usually more trouble than not. One of his most aggravating habits was dropping whatever tool he was using wherever he was and moving on. Even going home! He never put any tools away. He even lost my wheelbarrow one day! It was green.
Back then, I only owned about one acre, I didn’t have all the woods around me yet – good thing or I never would have found all the stuff he left lying around. I also didn’t own so many tools. So, in order to keep up with stuff, I invested in a few cans of spray paint. If you look in most any paint section, you will find bright fluorescent paint, reds, red-orange… In fact, you can even find fluorescent duct tape today, and I have used that, too. So I started to paint the handles of all my tools, from little spades and trowels to rakes, shovels and hoes.
Possum’s hint – whether you have a gardener who leaves things in hard to find places, or if you occasionally drop something or leave it hanging on a tree branch… painting the handles of tools is one easy way to find stuff. It is also a help if you have a neighbor who borrows and then can’t find it or claims he doesn’t have it. It is hard to hide a Bright red handled hoe or shovel. How about a bright red wheel barrow? Or hard to lose it out in the back 40 if you suddenly have to make a quick trip to the house.
Part of this Possum’s problem is, well, she is getting older. She can start out doing one thing and end up doing 6 other things before she even remembers what she went out in the yard to do in the first place, if she remembers at all. So, some tools get taken out, left while another seemingly more urgent job gets taken care of, and then another, and then a phone call, a potty break, something… and then it is time to come in and fix dinner, or go pick somebody up… well, you get the idea. 
So, the bright handles are a big help. I have seriously considered a bright red flag on the John Deere so I don’t lose it, but I have made a point to drive it to the back door if not back in the barn when I have to abandon mowing for a bit. In fact, I almost didn’t buy it because it was green. I never lost my red Murray!
Unfortunately, if you are color blind, you will have to pick a different color or a different method. If you have another trick, please pass it along here.
The red handles for tools seems like a good idea, but then I would have to remember where the red paint/red tape was to be found. And like you I start out doing one thing and then end u[ doing 5 more and wonder where the time went.
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