I love a good system. A good system does half the thinking, a.k.a. half the work, for me. It helps me get the job done faster because it's familiar and routine. These are the systems that work for me.
1. The Overhaul-
The first step is to empty the entire contents of the target area into the room. Pulling everything out of the closet to pile on the floor, dumping a drawer onto a table, covering countertops with the contents of a kitchen cupboard. Next the area gets cleaned and a system for organizing selected. Items are then returned to their new home or moved elsewhere.
Pros:
Ability to freshly visualize a space. That makes it useful for redesigning/reassigning use of space, like making the coat closet into a broom closet. Also makes for easier measuring for and installing of organizing systems like shelves, bins, or dividers.
Ability to clean thoroughly with no clutter in the way. Useful for cleaning up spills that get everywhere, tackling musty areas or disinfecting.
Good motivation to reduce. There's something about seeing piles and piles of items, as well as usually finding multiples of things hiding away, that motivates significant reduction. Useful for spaces that get 'stuffed', such as clothes closets, craft areas, garages, junk drawers.
Cons:
Piles and piles everywhere, usually disrupting the function of the area until the project is finished. Not good for intermittent time slots.
Visually and psychologically overwhelming. Easy to lose focus and momentum. Difficult to see progress until almost finished.
Messy. Usually redundant. Unless there's time and focus to finish the project ALL the way through, I inevitably wind up handling things multiple times, having to remind myself which pile is which. And that's assuming that there are no interruptions, distractions, or 'un-doers' (like children, pets, hubbies) getting into things.
Requires having sufficient space and storage to put away items.
Tips to make it work:
As much as possible designate reasonable chunks of time to the process. Don't forget breaks, but don't take too many. Grossly overestimate the time and energy required. The most success is experienced by getting it DONE.
Make sure there is a good build-up of motivation: an enticing vision of how the space will be used, a good cup (or pot) of coffee, an early start. If possible do a bit of extra planning so that things will not just be organized but LOOK organized when done.
As much as possible reduce interruptions: send the kids/hubby elsewhere, don't answer the phone or check social media, have dinner plans all prepped like a crock-pot meal or take-out.
Have rewards ready: chocolate, a shopping spree, a relaxing bath or movie.
Be ruthless. The more stuff reduced by giving away or throwing away the less there is to fit back in.
Be realistic. Yes I might be able to get some money for this item but unless I'm ready to store items for a yard sale or make the effort to list something on Ebay, then I'm just moving clutter around and creating larger mountains of work.
Pick a 'finished' area. For example, if overhauling a clothes closet I either empty things into designated bins or piles that can be moved when I stop, or I empty everything, clean it, and put back only the items I want. That way if a project takes multiple time slots, I regress less in the downtime.
Pay attention to small details when putting things back: edges of books aligned, clothes hangers all facing the same way, consistent labeling for bins, groups of like things neatly together. Don't let those steps eat up too much time, but when the task is complete those are the details that will take the final feeling from exhaustion to relaxation and satisfaction.
2. The Pile-
This method involves going around a room and putting everything out of place into a pile - on the bed, on the floor, in a bin. Putting away an item at a time, when the pile is gone the job is done. Simple.
Pros:
Good visual progress as pile diminishes. Useful for children especially for that reason.
Useful with a bin for decluttering, going from room to room and adding/putting away in each place.
Cons:
Requires mental sorting, and a certain amount of neatness to know what is 'out of place'.
Overwhelming with very cluttered/stuffed areas for the same reasons as the Overhaul method.
Potential for 'just stick it somewhere' motivation both for kids and adults. Requires an understood 'home' for every item therefore a certain amount of organization in place already.
Tips for making it work:
For kids a regular progress check up is good. Good for momentum, good for morale, and good for correcting sneaky stuff-it solutions.
Pick a clear area for the pile, preferably not filling it completely so that there is room to rummage.
Pick out 'alls' - all the toys, all the papers, all the pins, etc. Put away in mini-groups. This also reduces the number of steps.
Be strict about putting things where they go. If something doesn't have a real 'home' then leave it to last and find one for it.
3. The Eraser-
Like the Pile method, without the Pile. Beginning at one end of the room (doorway, bed, desk are good markers) work your way around, moving each item as you go. For quick visual progress move things multiple times if necessary, to the next section, but for the most part put each item home or in the section it belongs. (e.g. papers might move to the kitchen counter, then to the desk, then get filed)
Pros:
If organization is in place already, this method is very fast and easy to track my place if I get interrupted.
Visually very satisfying, imagine an eraser moving steadily through the space, like a Magna-Doodle.
Good for cleaning-as-you go. My favorite method for kitchen counters.
Can help make a huge mess look more manageable. Instead of papers and dishes and dirty clothes and toys everywhere, I have a stack of papers, a sink of dishes, a hamper of dirty clothes, and a pile of toys.
My favorite method for quick whole-house decluttering. Start at one end of one room and work your way around methodically.
Cons:
Nearly always handle things more than once.
Requires a certain amount of clear area to move stuff to.
Messes often get moved before they get finished, so 'un-doers' can cancel out the work.
Requires most items to have a 'home' otherwise I wind up with huge piles at the end.
Not great for work-in-progress such as papers that need to be filled out before they are filed, or clothes that need stain-treatment before going in the hamper.
Tips for making it work:
Be quick and decisive. If it belongs, straighten or clean it. If it doesn't belong, move it. How far to move it depends on how much effort I want to spend. It can move it as little as to the other end of the dresser or to a whole other room. The focus is speed and the area immediately in front of me.
Be thorough. Don't leave as much as a bottle-cap out of place. If the area includes 'hold' areas (like sinks, catch-alls, the-counter-where-mail-and-keys-gets-tossed, the 'waiting-to-go-up/down step') then clear them too.
If the area does contain works-in-progress than either finish them or group them together to be finished at the end. Tidy as much as possible, put away if it won't interrupt the project.
When moving things for the moment try to move to a less accessible/functioning area so that 'un-doers' can't get to it before me.
When moving an item to an area already done, put it all the way away. For example if I've already moved the dirty clothes to the laundry room and I find a stray sock under the bed, then I put it in the laundry room, not the hamper.
4. The Web-
This method deals with one item at a time. One. The item gets taken care of and put 'home', however many steps that entails, before moving on to the next item. Very slow, very thorough. But what gets done is DONE.
Pros:
Immediate and narrow focus. Good for when my brain hurts or I'm exhausted and considering more than one small step at a time is utterly defeating. Also good when I'm angry because I can channel all that energy into the thoroughness without losing momentum.
Immediate progress. Not visual, but psychological. I almost don't have to think, just pick up something, take care of it, and grab the next thing at hand. Good for puttering around the house: when I put an item away in a room I grab the thing that's out of place there next.
Can do however much or little I have time and energy for. By taking care of one item at a time, there is much less risk of 'un-doers', and I can start and stop anywhere. To start just grab an item, to stop just finish the one I have and don't pick another. Do it for 2 minutes, 20 minutes or 2 hours.
Good exercise, lots of walking.
Cons:
Not much visual progress unless a lot of time is spent.
Not easy to pair with cleaning except on an item-by-item basis.
Lots of extra physical steps.
Tips for making it work:
Use this method to get started when in a slump. I often use this method and the Eraser in combination- clearing large areas and then tackling individual items.
Use this to determine where more organization is needed. If it takes me 3 steps to put something away, that can explain why it's still out in the first place. If I'm doing one item at a time there's no reason not to make a home for it at that moment if I can.
Focus on the health benefits. If I climb the stairs 20 times or take 200 extra steps between rooms think how much productive exercise I'm getting! And a tidier house as a bonus!
The choice of method is based on the need of the project and the moment. How big is the mess, how organized is the 'home' spot, how much energy I have or who is helping. There's always one, or more, that can get me back to a tidy home.
