How To Organize: The Category Hack

Looking around my house is overwhelming sometimes. So many piles of crap! It feels like I am never going to get things in order again.

I avoid making these piles in the first place. (No, I'm not lying. I really do try. Life just happens.) 

I carry things with me when I leave the room and put them in their homes in another room. I erase the evidence when I cook, do projects, or move from activity to activity. But it's not enough. Life gets messy.

The Category Hack is the way that I have found to approach and conquer these piles.

The hack is simple. Put things away by category.

For example, my desk is currently piled with nail polish, ink pen refills, and coupons, along with a bit of trash. It looks like a disaster.

I cleaned it off in categories.

TIP: Before doing anything else, delete, delegate, or donate. In other words, trash gets thrown away, things for kids and partner go on their kitchen chairs to put away before dinner, and donation go straight into the goodwill box. 

(My goodwill box is a lined garbage can in the laundry closet. When the bag gets full, I take it to goodwill and reline the can.)

I put all the nail polish away in the appropriate basket.

Then I put the ink pen refills in my craft supplies zipper case.

Finally, I piled the receipts into the proper wallet, to be entered into the budget during my weekly paper processing time.

The desk is clear and lovely again.

Next time you tackle an organizing project, do the triple D, then clean up by category. It really does work.

Etcetera.