If you have 10 minutes: Straighten any open displays, and relocate items that don’t belong in the bathroom. Don’t worry about what’s behind closed doors. If you have 15 minutes: Dive into the vanity cabinet and any other storage space. Toss items that are outdated or unused. Corral items by type into baskets or bins. If you have 15 minutes: Regroup food by item type. Toss anything that is expired. Wipe away any spills or dirt on shelves. If you have an hour: Pull everything out of the pantry and do a deep reorganization. Look at your pantry configuration and what you need to store to determine what should go where. Keep the items you use frequently in the most accessible places. Give the shelves a good scrub before placing items. As you put things away, make a list of any storage accessories (such as trays or baskets) that would make your storage more efficient, and keep your eyes peeled for those items when you are out and about. If you have 10 minutes: Entryways, as coming-and-going spots, tend to collect more than their fair share of clutter. Do a quick cleanup, and return items to their rightful places. If you have an hour: Hang hooks or pegs to give coats and bags a home that isn’t the floor. If you have 10 minutes: Dig a little deeper if your message center is overflowing. Spend a little more time going through the items. If you have 15 minutes: Take everything out of the message center and sort papers into piles: keep in a folder (telephone numbers, etc.), move elsewhere (paid bills, pictures, etc.), and toss (anything you don’t need). If you have 15 minutes: Do a quick bookshelf sort. Recycle magazines that are out-of-date. Pull books that you know at a glance need to be donated. Dust the shelf edges and around empty space, and move display items to dust around and under them. If you have an hour: Pull everything from the shelves. In addition to recycling magazines and pulling books to be donated, reorganize books in alphabetical order, by subject, or by color. Dust the full shelves before placing books back in their rightful spots. Rearrange books and decor for a refreshed look. If you have 10 minutes: Spend a little time doing the organizational tasks you always think about when you’re cooking but don’t have time to do in the moment, such as relocating your cooking utensils to a drawer closer to your range. If you have an hour: Do a quick sort-and-toss of cabinet contents. Put items you never use into a donation box, and toss gadgets that no longer work or are past their prime. If you have 15 minutes: Grab three bins and sort by the most commonly used items. For example, if it’s a hall closet, designate one bin for first aid supplies, and one for excess bath necessities, such as lotions or room sprays. The last bin is for everything else. If you have an hour: Install an organization aid that will streamline closet storage. If you have a lot of outerwear to store, consider adding a second closet rod or hooks on the back of the door. If you need to organize bedding, make room for baskets on the floor. If you have 10 minutes: Reorganize the hanging bar in your closet by item type, placing all your shirts in one section, pants in another, and so on. If you have 15 minutes: After you organize the hanging bar, target one other area, such as a bin on the shelf in the closet. Come back as you have time, such as five minutes before hitting the hay, to organize the next section until you’ve worked through the whole closet. If you have 10 minutes: Organize lids and containers by size. If you have 15 minutes: Pull out the lone lids or containers. Pair up lids and containers that match, and discard anything that doesn’t have a match. Place the items back in an organized fashion. If you have 15 minutes: Target one area in your kid’s bedroom to clean up, such as a disorganized dresser, a messy desk, or a haphazard bookcase. If you have an hour: Pick an area that needs a purge, such as a toy collection or the clothing closet. If your child is old enough, have him or her work with you to identify items that can be donated or tossed if they are broken or no longer usable. If you have 15 minutes: Purge and sort your jewelry, eliminating things you no longer wear. If you have an hour: Make your own pretty DIY storage for hanging necklaces. Hang an empty frame on the wall. Install a colorful variety of cabinetry knobs on the wall within the frame.
