Wondering how to sort items at home or at the office?

Do you want some practical tips to help you put and keep things in order?

If you want to efficiently sort items, then you need to take a straightforward and practical approach.

The idea is to funnel items in such a way that makes it easy to see and process materials.

For starters, sorting items into broad categories allows for faster processing.

Once you’ve finished sorting items into broad categories, you have the opportunity to whittle items down into smaller categories.

A lot of energy can be misdirected if you’ve sorted something down to its smallest definition, only to find that you could have stopped one level above.

In this post, you’ll find several tips to help you sort items in your home and office in a way that makes the process smooth and seamless.

What exactly should you consider when sorting? Below you’ll find several things to think about.

Consider future use.

An important part in sorting items is to determine how you’re going to use sorted items in future.

Before you begin your work, be sure to ask yourself, “How will I use these items later on?”

You can use your answer as a guide to help you with your project.

What’s more, will you be able to easily manipulate/utilize the category/categories in which you’ve sorted items in relation to your goal?

Think in shrinking levels.

When it comes to sorting items, it’s best to think about sorting items broadly and then more narrowly as you go along.

You can think of this like a set of nesting dolls or an upside down pyramid.

Choose to work on the most broad category first. What do all the items in front of you have the most in common?

Once you have that broad category organized, you can organize the next level of category as needed.

For instance, let’s say you have a large number of receipts to organize from this year and last year.

You could begin the process by sorting the receipts first by year, then by month, then by date.

Take Notes.

It’s important to make clear notes for yourself as you go through the sorting process.

While things may seem crystal clear now, they may not at a later date when you’re trying to decipher where you are in your organization work.

Take care to note both broad and narrow categories; you can jot down items in a notebook or on a sheet of paper.

Don’t skip this step as it will save you precious time and energy.

Repeat as necessary.

Lastly, simply repeat the sorting process as necessary.

Sort items by broad levels and whittle them down until you reach your goal.

What happens if you come across items during your sorting session that require actionable steps, such as making a phone call, checking something online, or entering data?

It’s best to set them aside and make a plan to tackle these organization “puzzles” for another day or item.

Doing so will allow you to better focus on your work as you sort items.

How about you? Which of the above tips are you going to follow in your next sorting session? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!