7 Steps to Organizing a Drawer or Cabinet

Are you overwhelmed by a drawer in your desk or bathroom? Is there a kitchen cabinet that is overflowing? Here are some simple steps to getting it organized fast.

Decide if you need to. Not every drawer or cabinet in your house has to be organized. Unless you love neatness--not because of guilt but because you truly enjoy having things in place--it may be better to spend your time on areas that you see or use more often. If it will bring you joy and peace to organize it, then do it!

Get a container. You'll need a container large enough to act as a temporary "staging area" for the items in that space. (This may becoming your organizing container for a lot of your projects around the house. If you are creative, feel free to decorate it!)

Empty the space. It's very difficult to organize a cluttered space. Starting with an empty area makes it much easier to make decisions. Think about how often you wish you could just start over in a new house. This is why.

Use a timer or item goal. Decide how long, or how many items, you will make decisions about, then stop. You may decide to work on the drawer for five minutes. Or you may think, "I'll make decisions about five items from this cabinet." Part of the drain of organizing is the mental energy needed to make decisions such as "I may need this someday."

Sort items, applying one of the following four actions: give away, throw away, hide away, put away. (A "Hide Away" box is a collection of items from all your organizing that will allow you defer decision making that bogs you down. You can deal with THAT container at another time.)

Stop when the goal is reached. If your timer goes off, and you only have a little more to go, decide if you want to. If not, keep the container in a handy place and work on it another five minutes later. You'll be surprised how much you can organize in five-minute increments.

Reward yourself. Do one small, (preferably healthy) thing to celebrate this accomplishment. It may feel like "I didn't do much," but by doing something, you have made progress. And remember, getting organized is about progress, not perfection.

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