There is nothing more frustrating or disheartening about organizing than investing hours and hours of effort but seeing absolutely no improvement in your space. This kind of discouraging experience is really the result of poor organizing techniques, which are easily fixable. To see visible, dramatic results each time you work, avoid common mistakes such as “Zigzag Organizing.”

            Most people make the mistake of scattering their organizing efforts, working back and forth between several rooms at once. This is what I call “zigzag organizing,” a method that is guaranteed to provide the minimum results in the maximum time. You start with a drawer, find a book inside that belongs elsewhere, go to the bookcase, and discover the shelves are so messy there is no place for the book. So you abandon the drawer and start organizing the bookcase. Then you find some stray papers on the bookshelves that really belong in your filing system. But of course, the filing system is a wreck, so you abandon the drawer and the bookshelves and start organizing the filing system. Before you know it, you’ve started five, six, seven different areas, finished none, and quit in despair.

            The opposite of zigzag organizing is to work one section at a time. That means completing one room before moving on to the next, and within each room, tackling the space one section at a time. Decide up front which corner of the room you want to serve as the launchpad for your organizing efforts, and complete that section before moving on to the next. If you find something that belongs elsewhere, just put it in the doorway for now, and take care of it at the end of your organizing session. Working one section at a time allows you to see progress; it also gives you logical places to take breaks to recoup your energy and determination. If you need a rest, you can say, “Okay, I’ll finish this corner and then go get a cup of coffee.” When you come back to the room, the first thing you’ll see if that beautifully organized section, which will encourage you to move on to the next section, and the next….