My whole world is a mess. My car is a disaster; no one can get in it but
me. My house is a mess. From the front door, to the kitchen, to each bedroom, the floors are lined with papers, and
every surface is covered with papers and other things I don‘t know what to do with. There is no room for anything; it’s a disaster. I don’t know how to start, because I don’t know where everything should belong. There is no pattern. No rhyme or reason for anything. Am I beyond help?

L.H.”

Here is my Answer

“Dear L.H.,

No one is beyond help. First you have to make a decision about where you would like to start, or what you would like to see accomplished. If it is truly a disaster, it almost doesn’t matter where you start. But I understand that when you get overwhelmed sometimes it is easier if you have a roadmap. Today I have given you a roadmap to use to navigate your way from disaster to organization. Since you must start somewhere, I will give you suggestions about where to start, and how to proceed.

The next thing you must do is to set boundaries for yourself. Decide on a certain amount of time you are willing to dedicate to your organizing project on a daily (20 minutes per day), or weekly (2 hours per week) basis. This, too, is arbitrary. Remember, part of the reason this happened is because you were not consistent… so, this is the time to make that requirement of yourself.

Since you say everything is a disaster, we will approach it from the outside in. We will start with what other people can see, and work our way inward to what they can’t see. A lot of people feel a great degree of embarrassment from living and working in very messy conditions. So, for this project we will be organizing in reverse... we will be organizing from the outside… in.

Since we are organizing in reverse, I suggest you start with your car. For some of the people in your world, it is the only thing they see that represents you. It is your statement to the outside world, and if it bothers you… start there.

The technique I will show you today will work to get your car organized. We will use the same system to organize all of the rest of the rooms filled with clutter. (This is not the system to use on paper… but it will help you get all of the papers into the correct room).

Start with 3 letter/legal boxes (you will need lots more, so buy them in packages of 10). Use 1 for things that need to be brought into the house (don’t worry about where to put them at this stage – the entire house is a disaster, right?), 1 for items that will be put into the trash, and 1 for things that need to be taken away (things that belong to someone else, things to return to the store, library books, etc.). You may find that you need more than 1 box, but the principal of how to divide everything still applies.

Using these 3 boxes, get everything out of the trunk of your car. The inside box gets labeled
“inside” and brought inside; the contents of the trash bag goes in the garbage, the contents of the third bag will stay in the trunk, so put these aside for a minute. Keep taking things out of your trunk, placing them into one of the three boxes, until your trunk is empty.

Use the same principle of the 3 boxes to clean the inside of your car. We will divide the car into quadrants to make the process easier. Start with papers and items on the driver’s side, floor, window, pockets, etc. Next do the front passenger side. Then do the seat behind the passenger seat. Then do the seat behind the driver’s seat.

Once all of the papers and other items are out of the car and the trunk, take your car to the car wash… have someone clean it inside and out. Once your car is clean and smelling good, it’s time to set up crates or boxes in your trunk. You should have a crate or a box for books to return to the library, a crate or box for items to return to the store (you may need a box for different stores, or 1 box, depending on how much returning you need to do). You may need a box for things to return to friends, things to mail. You know what you need to do… create a box for each thing.

(All of the boxes won’t fit? Start with 2 or 3. When those activities are done, put 2 or 3 more boxes in the trunk.)

Then set rules for yourself. ONCE A WEEK, empty the trunk. Take things where they belong. EVERY DAY, when you get out of your car, look around and make sure you bring everything in. NEVER leave anything in your car. If you set this rule for yourself, and follow it, your car will never get messy again.

Once your car is clean, I want you to start at the next most “public” place in your home (or office). Do guests enter into your living room? Or do they come in through the back door? If it’s your living room, start there. Again, take 3 boxes. Box 1 – things that belong in another room, Box 2 – things that belong in the trash, Box 3 – things that belong outside of the house, which are things that are to be given away, returned, taken to charity, etc. These items will go in the correct box in your trunk.

Be ruthless. Ask yourself, “does this item belong in the room I am organizing?” If not, put it in the box to go into another room. Notice, I am not suggesting that you throw your things away. I am simply having you remove them from the wrong rooms.

When the room you are working on is clear, set a rule for yourself. EVERY DAY, at the end of the day, look around the room. Take everything out of the room that does not belong there. Don’t let even one article of clothing, or piece of paper remain in this room at the end of the day, if it does not belong there. If you do this every day, the room well never get messy again.

Move to the next most “public” room in your home (or office). Using the 3-box method of diving up the things that do not belong in the room, and taking out all of the wrong things, your environment will start to be in your control again.

You can’t do an entire room at a time? Then divide the room into quadrants, and do one fourth
of the room. Still too much area? Then do a shelf… But use the same 3-box strategy; and you will be able to regain control of your environment… once, and for all.