Bin There Done That

Organizing your home can be very uncomplicated if you take the subjectivity out of the equation. Don’t analyze, read or debate, simply sort items in the appropriate bins like an emotionless robot. Organizing goes fast and then there will be plenty of time to reflect on the sorted items in your fresh, clean and open space. Think of how happy your Roomba will be!
I visited a friend who is a lawyer. When I walked into her office I could not believe my eyes. There were stacks of paper 2 and 3 feet high on every surface. It was a mix of mail, receipts, newspapers, books, things that had fallen over and things that were about to fall over. I said let me help you take your office back before we find you underneath an accidental avalanche.
We put together about 10 filing boxes with the following titles:

• Trash
• Recycle
• Shred (then recycle)
• Mail
• Immediate attention
• File
• Donate
• Put Away
• Long Storage

The name of the game is “pick it up and put it in a box.” Then I told her the rules of the “game”. “Nothing stays in your hand for more than 5 seconds and there is absolutely no dwelling, discussing or storytelling involved in any of the items you’re organizing.”

Not only did we make it through the entire office by the end of the day but she also found some important correspondence and two missing checks. One of which she used to buy me dinner. She even let me have a McFlurry for dessert. A few days later she told me that she had gotten everything in all those boxes put where they belong.
Obviously if you are attacking a room with bigger or more diverse items you might need a few other categories and some larger bins. Also just because you have things organized into categories doesn’t mean the job is finished but getting things put away can be wonderfully addicting.