We continue with the fourth approach to begin organizing your spaces which is the one-section-at-a-time method. To begin to organize any space, you need to know what you have and what space you have available to store it in. And to know that, you need to clear out your space! All those items lurking in your dark corners need to be brought to light and we need to illuminate your spaces themselves so that we can truly evaluate how to utilize them the best. Let us understand how to approach clearing out your spaces in the most efficient way possible. You will need my 7-step guide to organizing any space, my room evaluation chart to help you determine your level of clutter, and my declutter challenge calendar and guide which can all be found here.
There are four approaches to clearing out an area depending on the current state of your space. In a previous post, we went over determining what level of clutter you have: mildly cluttered, moderately cluttered, severely cluttered, and critically cluttered. Do not be afraid of what level of clutter you have! Again, this is just going to help us to determine your approach to organizing your spaces so that you can get them organized more efficiently. Also, when looking at your spaces you may notice that some areas may be mildly cluttered, and some may be critically cluttered. Remember this so that when you go into clearing out one space with one approach and try to tackle another space with a different level of clutter, you will come back to this post and the previous three and review the four approaches.
In this post, we are covering the one-section-at-a-time method approach to clearing out your space. This method works best for the critically cluttered as you cannot find most things and are not even sure what you have.
Terry Elisabeth’s GUIDE ON HOW TO APPROACH CLEARING OUT YOUR SPACES
The One-Section-at-a-Time Method
| HOW | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|
| This approach works best for those who have critically cluttered spaces. Since you may not have much space to clear out your items from one area to another, it will likely work best for you to work in sections of each room, one room at a time. You can also clear out a whole room all at once as well (like in the previous level of clutter)! If you begin to feel overwhelmed in the process, however, it is okay to revert to one section at a time. Like the previous level of clutter, your approach to clearing out your space will also require a combination of both steps one and two as you will need to sort your items as you clear them out of your spaces as you discover again what you have. Just stay focused on one section at a time in one room at a time so you can finish that room and enjoy that peace! Once you experience that feeling, you will be motivated to do every room! | You can start in one corner of your bedroom, for example and just work your way around from the nightstand to the dresser and so on as you complete the sorting steps. Your whole room will be organized before you know it! You can just work on one box at a time in your attic or basement until you have gone through all of them. If your dining room table is inaccessible as the dining table surface and the chairs are covered in stuff and it is difficult to maneuver around this room due to most surfaces, including the floor, being inaccessible, it is best to sort items out one section at a time. As you sort the dining table, at the end of each sorting session, you will remove the items that do not belong in this room to make more sorting space for the other areas in this room. You will move on through each surface and into each closed space, removing the items that do not belong at the end of each session until you are ultimately left with just want you want to keep in this room. Then, you will be able to move on to the secondary sorting stage. |
One of the most important things to remember in the first steps of organizing is that IT ALWAYS GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER! All those things that have been settled into their spaces now must come into the light so that we can SEE what we have and so that they can be put away more efficiently and finally be used or appreciated!
The sooner you understand that piles are necessary for the organizing process, the more at ease you will be so that you can look forward to completing the process. When clearing out your spaces to sort your items, I want to note that the four approaches to clearing out your space as noted in this one-section-at-a-time method post and the previous three can be used for any level of clutter, I am simply suggesting what may be your initial approach and the most efficient based on your current level of clutter.
So, don’t forget to grab my 7-step guide to organizing any space, my room evaluation chart to help you determine your level of clutter, and my declutter challenge calendar and guide which can all be found here. If you would like, you can take pictures of your piles with the hashtag #pilesbeforesmiles and tag me @terryelisabethllc. All my social media links are below. Let’s get organized!
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“