- Should it stay in the room in question?

- Does it belong in another room?

- Should it be returned to someone?

- Should it be recycled?

- Should it be shredded?

- Should it be donated?

- Should it be sold?

- Should it be trashed?

- Does it require a special method of disposal? (ie. batteries, chemicals, large furniture items)

Note: Please see E-waste Recycling for details on how to dispose of electronic items.

Separate the piles accordingly and then be sure to eliminate most, if not all, of the "toss" pile before you begin organizing a room.

And remember: De-cluttering is normally the biggest, most time-consuming step of all! So do a little bit at a time, so as not to be overwhelmed with it all.

If you would like a worksheet to help you remove clutter from a room or your house, visit Printable To Do Lists and click on "Purging Unwanted Items." Instructions to fill out the worksheet are provided as well.

Step C: Consider What "Organized" Means To You

If you try to organize something that runs contra your system of reasoning, then it will never, ever work!

I have identified four logic types: Geometrical, Positional, Chronological, and Categorical.

• Geometrical or "How"

  If you have geometrical logic, then you like clean lines, right angles, and symmetry. You would feel most organized if...

  - Your papers were stacked in a straight row on your desk.

  - All the book spines lined up perfectly with the edge of a bookshelf.

• Positional or "Where"

  If you have positional logic, then you like things to be where they will prove most useful. You would feel most organized if...

  - Your keys were always by the front door so they are nearby when you leave.

  - Your clothes hamper was situated in your closet because that is where you always change clothes.

• Chronological or "When" or "How Often"

  If you have chronological logic, then you relate everything to a point in time. Your life is strictly based on a calendar of events or time of day, month, or year. You would feel most organized if...

  - Your records were filed according to date.

  - Your weekly routine accomplished the same tasks on the same day of each week.

• Categorical or "What" or "Who"

  If you have categorical logic, then you sort everything into a group. You would feel most organized if...

  - Your kitchen cabinets were arranged by type of food.

  - Your CDs were displayed by genre.

Most of your habits and patterns should be obvious, and hopefully you relate strongly to one logic type or another.

In some cases, you could be a combination of the 4 logic types. Perhaps you would organize geometrically (pants/ skirts/ shirts) and then categorically by color within each geometric (white pants, brown pants / blue skirts, skirts with flowers/ pastel shirts, neutral shirts).

I hope these logic types don't make organizing a room seem difficult! That was not my design, nor do I think you should spend a lot of time agonizing over what logic type you may be.

These are just considerations to make you think about what you like and dislike.

Step D: Get Into The FLOW Of Organizing

But how often are those flawlessly arranged rooms actually practical?

There is a common misconception about room organization - it requires perfection.

If you are organizing a room, it does not have to be impeccably sorted to be considered an organizational success. The most important thing about organization is that you need FLOW.

Let's break it down:

• F is for Function
• L is for Location
• O is for Order
• W is for Work-in-progress

It's incredibly logical when you put it all together!

• Function and location generally go hand-in-hand; you need a functional location or otherwise the whole idea of organization is moot.
• Once you have a spot that provides both functionality and a workable location, then you add order to the equation.
• And finally, it is important to remember that organization is a work-in-progress. Once you establish a system that works for you, then you must put in a little effort into maintenance of the system.

An Example Of FLOW

Organizing Problem: Say hello to Sophie!

As you can see, Sophie is quite the bookworm. Her books are scattered all throughout the house; they are in the living room, on the kitchen table, on the bedside table, and in the bathroom.

She never can remember what book is where exactly.

Organizing Goal: Organize Sophie's books into a workable library system.

This does not mean busting out a label maker and creating a personal Dewey Decimal System for categorization. Simply put - we want a manageable system that helps Sophie find a book quickly.

Function and Location: It is imperative to find a functional location that works for you. If you select a spot that fits your habits, then you are more likely to continue with the organization. On the other hand, if you select a spot that does not fit your daily routine, then you are less likely to put forth the effort to stay organized.

In Sophie's situation, putting all her books in one spot is not going to work because she likes to read in lots of places around her house.

For example, if Sophie places all her books in the study and yet she never goes in there to read, then it becomes a hassle to go to the study each time she wants to pick up a book.

And, chances are, that over time she would grow tired of the extra effort and give up on keeping her books organized.

The best thing for her to do is to narrow the locations from numerous to about 2-3 spots she constantly uses to curl up and read. Sophie decides these rooms will be the living room and the bedroom.

Order: Once you select a location, create some rules of order. The rules of order will also be personality-dependent.

Sophie is sure of one thing: she does not want to put her books in order by height and she does not want them alphabetized. That is too much work, in her opinion.

She decides to move her biggest bookcase to her living room, where she does most of her reading, and she divides the books into categories - classics, non-fiction, fiction, etc. Then she takes 10 of her choice reads and places them in the top drawer of her bedside table.

Work-in-progress: Over time, you must put some energy into upkeep of the system of functionality, location, and order that you designed. However, it should take minimal effort after the system is established.

Now that Sophie has a master plan, all she has to do is return books to the book shelf or to the drawer in order to sustain the organization.

If she slips up and leaves one book on the kitchen counter and one book on the bathroom floor things might snowball and she might muddle the system she created.

While you may find that many organizational gurus are perfectionists by nature, that doesn't mean that organizing a room will require you to be exhaustively flawless!

With some simple adjustments, you can be well on your way to organizing a room that is practical and fits your personal needs.

And one room will lead to another, and another, and another...

Additional Organizing Tips