Here is a simple 5-step plan that works to organize anything.
It follows a simple acrostic – G.R.A.C.E. – to remind us that we need to give ourselves grace as we work through the organizing process.
Here goes:
Gather
First, gather everything together that you want to organize. Keep it to one category! Or one thing you want to pursue.
As an example, in Getting Ready to Be Organized, I talked about wanting to pursue sewing. In order to do that, I would first need to gather all my various sewing supplies throughout the house.
Having everything in one place will give you a better idea of what you own in any particular category. How many of us have bought something only to find a duplicate in a drawer several months later? Knowing what you have in one category will save you time and money.
Look around your space and gather together everything related to what you want to pursue. Start there and gather.
Some categories based on the examples in Why Be Organized? can be recipe collections, exercise equipment, home office supplies, clothing, or stacks of paper.
Remove
Next, remove what doesn’t belong.
For example, if I am planning on sewing a new wardrobe, I do not want fabric with moth-eaten holes in it, broken tools, or trash.
Now is the time to get rid of anything broken and unusable.
Ask yourself – will this thing help me pursue my goal?
This is a time to get rid of the first layer. As you start pursuing what matters to you, you might find that some things will get in your way instead of help. That makes it easier to remove them from your life.
When you are done with this task, you should only have those things that you need to pursue whatever it is that you want to do and need to be organized to do it.
Assign
Now, find a place for the things that you need. Don’t forget to follow the guidelines in How to Define “Being Organized” by giving yourself access to the thing you need when you need it.
For my sewing supplies example, once I’ve gathered everything together, and then released what I didn’t need, I need to decide where I’m going to put what I have left.
My schedule only allows me to be a weekend sewer and I really don’t want everything left out all week. That means I need to find a place where I can put everything together that is easy to access on the weekends but not in the way during the week.
I decided to assign all my sewing supplies to a closet. I will bring out the supplies on the weekends when I’m going to sew using my kitchen table as a work surface.
Decide where you want to keep your things that you are organizing. At this point you are just deciding, not moving anything yet.
That will come in the next step.
Contain
Once you have everything gathered, you removed those items you don’t want, and you assigned a place for them, now you need to figure out how to contain them.
I want all my sewing supplies in the closet, but I don’t want to just throw them in the closet. I want everything to be in some kind of containment so that I can get to it easily.
My fabric and patterns go in an old bread box.
My miscellaneous sewing supplies in a sewing basket.
My sewing machine in it’s box.
Now when I’m ready to sew, I just need to get out three items and I have access to everything I need. And those three items are in the same place, the closet.
Your turn. How will you contain the things that you have left and contain them in their assigned place?
Experiment
At this point in the process you should have everything you need assigned and contained in a place where you can access it when you need it.
Live with that for awhile. Try a week or two. And pay attention to your own behavior.
What’s working?
What’s not working?
Am I missing anything?
Do I have excess things that are getting in the way?
For example, as I sew each weekend, I can feel free to adjust what I have and the ways I contain them. The easier it is to get access, the more likely it is that I would sew.
At this point my categories may become smaller as well. Instead of “sewing supplies”, I can go through the organizing with G.R.A.C.E. process with the patterns I’ve collected, then the notions, then the fabrics, etc.
One thing I have noticed over the years in my journey to be organized is that the more you do it, the more you realize can be done.
It’s okay to work in as big or as small of a category that you want to. For example, if it’s too overwhelming to go through all your clothes at once, do pants only, then shirts, then shoes, etc.
The more you do this the easier it gets.
G.R.A.C.E. – Gather. Remove. Assign. Contain. Experiment.
And give yourself some grace as you go through the process!