Clean Out Clutter
Step 1: Gather Items To Be Sorted

When you want to clean out clutter, the first step is to choose what area you'll work on.

Most people either underestimate the amount of time it's going to take to clear their clutter, or overestimate their level of motivation...and many times, both.

That's why most people start off strong and excited and motivated, and then, once they've pulled everything out of the garage and moved it to the front lawn, they realize they're already exhausted. Or they conveniently get distracted by something much more interesting. Or they take phone call after phone call, and by the end of the day, the stuff is still on the lawn.

When you clean out clutter, count on taking more time and more energy than you imagined.

That's why I highly recommend clearing clutter in layers, taking one bit at a time, rather than tackling it as one enormous project.

Start with one shelf. Or one box. Or one closet.

Choose the area first, then look at the items in that area. What will you be going through?

If you're clearing out your closet, it helps if you gather all the same type of item together to go through it one at a time. So one kind of item might be shirts, and another kind would be pants or skirts, and so on.

Same when you clean out the garage...rather than sorting lots of different types of items, it is easier to gather similar items together, like sporting equipment or gardening equipment or tools and go through them at one time.



When you're done with this step of clearing your clutter, move on to the next step: Step 2: Sort Your Stuff Into Categories.

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