Start with obvious trash first, followed by whatever is causing clutter and you know you want to sell or donate. You can then eventually get to organizing what you know you want to keep.
It can be really stressful when you feel pressured to part with items that mean so much to you. This really should be one of the last things you deal with when it comes to organization.
Stop trying to organize your entire home over a weekend or a day off. You are overwhelming and stressing yourself out by trying to do too much. That’s why I’m giving you a specific list of ideas that should be doable in a weekend.
This will be the most impactful from the get-go and will make implementing a routine of keeping things organized easier. Think about the common areas of your home, like your kitchen, family room, and entryway.
You can also use different types of printables in a binder that help you to simplify the organization process and help you track your to-do lists. This is another way to have a routine, as you have a binder full of printables that help to keep you on track.
Doing this before you go grocery shopping or plan your meals for the week is very convenient. You get rid of expired food and can also write down ingredients you have as you start working on your meal plan and grocery list at the same time.
Take everything out of all of the cabinets and then sort by use. It’s hard to organize things when similar items might be found in more than one place. Grouping things together will allow you to have an accurate picture of what you have.
Throw away old or expired food. You can then organize what you are keeping, by using a combination of bins, baskets, and can organizers. I am also going to suggest you get a small list and tape it inside the cabinet door.
Pull everything out of your closet and sort it into keeping, throwing away, and donating. Once you have sorted everything, you can then put the trash and donating piles into bags to be dealt with later, and organize what is going back into your closet.
Mail can pile up very fast, especially with letters and bills you don’t need to open right away. Get a shredder at home so that you can dispose of mail you don’t need to keep. The rest can be filed away so that you are able to reference it in the future at any time.
Remove the contents. Get rid of trash and thing you no longer use. Then group by use or type. Once you know what you have, you can decide if it’s going to stay in the drawer and how you will store it.