While walking through the Target parking lot, I overheard a young woman say to her friends, “I don’t want to go home—I’m drowning in clean laundry and don’t want to deal with it.” She was feeling out of sorts.

Ever notice that when you’re out of sorts, you need to sort something out? An out of sorts relationship needs time and attention to sort things out. When we’re stressed about finances, we sort them out.

Dictionary.com defines “sort out” as finding a solution to a problem, to make clear or tidy, and to take or separate, as from a larger group.

We practice sorting as preschoolers. It’s important in our cognitive development and helps us learn math and language. There are benefits however, that go far beyond our early years.

I’ve made a career out of sorting. Playrooms, pantries, paper stacks, closets, cupboards, and keepsakes. Piles on the counter and piles four feet deep. People feeling out of sorts about their environment come to me to help sort things out.

Sorting isn’t the only step in organizing, but it is foundational. Without it we fail to solve the problem. Here are four Timely Tips for sorting things out in your home.

Timely Tips for sorting things out

PAPER
We haven’t yet achieved the “paperless society” predicted in the late 70s. Regardless of how much or little you have, you can sort all your paper into these four categories:

Recycle
Shred
Active
Archive

Additional Resources:

Organizing Active paperwork: Now you see it, now you don't
Setting up Archive (long-term) files and a link to a paper retention guide: Piles to Smiles

Sorting typically provides immediate relief from more than half your paper!

PANTRY
Macro Sort--remove items that don’t belong

stale or expired items
purchased but no longer desired
quantities above and beyond what you will use

Micro Sort--place items in categories

baking
canned foods
beverages
chips & crackers
sauces
breakfast foods
etc.

Once they’re sorted, they’re much easier to find!

PLAYROOM
Macro Sort--remove items that don't belong

toys that are outgrown
broken or worn out items
things that are never played with
unnecessary multiples
items that belong somewhere else

Micro sort and create zones for:

books
dolls
cars
board games
video games
Legos
etc.

If you continue to feel out of sorts, there’s probably still too much stuff. Less is more when it comes to toys.

CLOSET
Macro sort--remove items that don’t belong (see the pattern?)

Julie Morgenstern says, “Think of your closets as a place to ‘retrieve’ items rather than ‘store’ them.” This means:

things that belong are the things you use
things that don’t belong are the things you don’t use

Micro sort the remainder into categories:

household items
decorations
linens
etc.

Depending on the quantity of items per category, micro sort further. Sort decorations by holiday or season, linens by color, size, location used, etc.

I wanted to stop the young lady with the laundry issue and encourage her to “sort it out.” Yes, even clean piles of laundry are easier to deal with when first sorted into smaller sections of underwear, socks, shirts, pants, etc. When things are all mixed together it can seem overwhelming. Whatever has you feeling out of sorts in your home becomes manageable as you sort it out.