Never remove from a space more than fits in the limiting box. The exception to this is when you sort clothing closets or do the refridgerator.

When one of the sorting station boxes is full, don't do anymore sorting until you have emptied the 4 boxes.

Have a place to put all the thrift shop items that isn't the living room or entryway of your home.

Identify a thrift shop that is on one of your regular routes that you can stop at easily.

I have a box for the resale shop; that is also where you could put things if you are planning on having a yard sale. If you are planning a yard sale, do yourself a favor-- keep a sheet of pricing labels in your sorting area, and price everything as you put it in the box. This will increase the chances that you will actually HAVE the yard sale and that it can be successful.

If things are going to go in a space that isn't organized yet, try and put them there anyway. If there truly is not space, make that your next cube, or get a storage box, label it and place everything for that space in the box. Do this only as a last resort or you will end up with 100 little boxes all waiting for a place and taking up a lot more space.

Always take the time to label.

Take care of the big, noticeable spaces before working on drawers or closets.

Work from Visible to Invisible

Work from Clean to Dirty

Work from Large to Small

Try and do one cube per room per day. Sometimes the "cube" might be the rug area of a room, which mainly needs vacuuming, other times it may be a shelf of the pantry that needs total rearranging

Evaluate containers as you go. Do you need to have some in this space? What type? What size? What qualities (waterproof, clear, sturdy)? Is this what the family will naturally put there? In my entry way we added a big copper container just for things like umbrellas (we use them a lot in the Pacific NW) and inside it is a bag where we stick all unmatched gloves. To others it may not make sense, but that is where my family looks first for gloves when they can't find theirs. It also means that during the winter, wet, muddy children don't have to come all the way inside to get a dry glove. The other thing we have done for unusual ways of having containers is using the plastic grocery bags for projects. If we pick up an assortment of supplies for a specific project, they go in the bag, the bag is labeled with a permanent marker and then hung on a rack either in the workshop or the utility room. No more parts lost while waiting to start the project.

On a day that you do a C4 cube, don't try and do any other cubes.

I find that if I think of laundry in blocks I get more done. I do the following

Monday--Towels

Tuesday--Whites

Wednesday--Darks

Thursday--Sheets (and some towels)

Friday--Good Clothes

Saturday and Sunday--I only run a load of my husband's work clothes

Keep your sink empty and clean. Put dishes either directly in the dishwasher or in a dishpan that can sit under the sink. This one thing can limit so many messes in the kitchen. If you have a clean sink you are less likely to stack things on the counter on either side. You are also less likely to stack things on the stove. It's a psychological type thing.

Empty your kitchen trash every evening as part of your putting the house to bed routine.

The Routines