STEP 1: CATEGORIZE your stuff.
PUT LIKE THINGS WITH LIKE THINGS. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Not so for everyone.

When we are little, we spend a lot of our cognitive capital learning to categorize things — all the red blocks go together; dogs vs. tables; hats vs. shoes, cars vs. airplanes; cars, airplanes and trains vs. camels, horses and people, and so on. The older we get, the more practice we’ve had and we take it for granted that we can easily and faultlessly do this whenever we need to. And, in theory, we do.

Yet, in practice, when faced with trying to organize the accumulated “stuff” of our fast-paced, time-crunched, multi-focused lives, categorizing it all can seem like your worst nightmare. What to put with what. How big to make the category. What to do with things that could go in more than one category. What about one-of-a-kind things?

Good news: categories are arbitrary. You use ‘em? You choose ‘em. There are some common ones, like linens, tools, financial records, gift wrapping supplies, and memorabilia. But, depending on use, these may not be the best categories for your stuff. So, make your own categories, such as guest linens (kept seperately near the guest room), upstairs tools (workshop tools in the basement), things to take when you go to the beach, toys with little pieces, winter sports gear, craft and art supplies (seperate from office supplies), and any other functional grouping. Just be sure you define what goes in each and that the category is a logical place for you to look for something you put in it.

Okay, so now you’ve sorted your piles into a whole lot of smaller piles, the trash can is full, your shelves and drawers and closets are empty — You did include them in the sort, didn’t you? — and you’ve pulled out everything under the beds and behind the doors. Now what?

STEP 2 – Capture
Now that you have all those piles of like things, it’s time to capture each pile and find a place you can dedicate to that category and only that category –a drawer, a closet, a specific section of your basement, storage shelves. The capture challenge is finding ways to keep like things together and still have them be accessible. Maybe a drawer just for socks, a games cabinet (with small bins for little pieces), trays for different categories of papers, a bin for yarn, bins for holiday decorations and, of course, the absolutely necessary drawer for parts to unknown things.

And, most importantly . . . .
STEP 3 – LABEL
Label everything — side, top and front. Labels increase the likelihood that things get put back with the other things in its category. Labels make it easier to find things. Labels keep you honest — there’s just no excuse for putting a hammer in the drawer labeled ’socks.’

So there you are, everything with a place. The rest is all about maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. You’ve just got to make yourself put things away and no system, not matter how good it is, is going to do it for you. Go to it!