Evaluate
Start your project by determining the “mission” of the space/room. You need to determine specifically how you want this space to serve you so you’ll know what things ultimately belong in that space.
Sort
This is where things get messy, so mentally prepare yourself for things to get worse before they get better! Take everything out. Totally clearing the space also ensures that you evaluate every single item. I like to start with an initial “rough sort”, which involves putting items isubcategorize,nto broad categories . For example, clothes, linens, and accessories. Then subcategorize breaking it down even further. For example, towels, sweaters, and purses.
Purge
Let go of what no longer serves you. Think about what you use and how it makes you feel. Keep only what you have used in the past year and make you feel good. Categorize into keep, trash, donate.
Organizing
Finally…the fun part! In the Organize step, you get to assign each item a home and put systems in place for storing and retrieving your items. And the finishing touch, labels.!
Maintain
Think about the routines and tasks you’ll need to complete on a regular basis to maintain your newly organized space. Keep it simple, don’t try to fit it all into one day, it doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, a home office project could look like this:
- Daily: Process mail
- Weekly: Clean off desktop
- Monthly: File papers in “To File” box & Shred papers in “To Shred” box
- Yearly: Purge reference files