The Pile Method of Cleaning

Motivation

I can’t be the only one who does it like this, so I won’t claim to have invented it, but I did come up with it independently and want to share it with people in case it resonates with them.

When you don’t want to clean, it is usually because it is overwhelming. Especially if it has been accumulating over time, it can be hard to know where to start. I think the Pile Method helps give you the actionable next step while also allowing you to pause and do it over time.

Over time people accumulate things. A lot of times this is because we are resistant to throwing things away because we may need it someday. However context and needs change over time so after a while we likely no longer will need something or have a use for it. I’m not really an advocate for regularly cleaning out all of your stuff, but I think if you start to find that you don’t have room for something then it is probably time to get rid of some things or re-organize.

The Pile Method

The Pile Method is pretty much what it says on the tin: you put like things (things of the same category) in piles and then decide where they go from there.

Note: It will get messier before it gets cleaner. But it will at least be a controlled mess (depending on how much space you are working with).

You should have some sort of bag/bin for each of the following categories:

• Trash
• Recycling
• Goodwill
• Friends and Family

All you need to do is to take everything and put it on a surface: floor, desk, etc. You will make piles of like things and over time you may need to split piles as they begin to specialize. For instance, you might have a pile that is Personal Hygiene that may splint off into Toiletries and Skin Care. It is good for piles to specialize over time because that means you will be able to find more specific places to put things.

• If you can have bags/bins for every single pile that’s even better because it will control the chaos a little bit better, but it may also reduce your visibility into each of your piles, so there is a trade-off there for sure.
• I find that having things in piles of like things allows you to see all the stuff you have in context. With everything together you may find that you have too many of one kind of thing and are able to get rid of some of your stock.

This method works really well if you have a partner who can help you move around stuff and ask you if you want to keep something or where it goes. In this way one person does the decision making and the other person is physically cleaning up. Cleaning up physically isn’t so demanding, but mentally it can be because you’re making hundreds of little decisions.

• You will really only need your partner for keep versus not-keep (trash/give away).
• They can sort or you can sort, it’s really up to you.
• Sorting should probably be done ahead of time before keep decisioning. Then for each pile you can do keep vs not-keep.

An Extension of the Method

I use the Pile Method for laundry too.

• Put into like piles (socks, shirts, etc)
  • For socks I also like to pair them up
• For each pile turn them outside out
• For each pile fold them
• For each pile put them away

For each pile you do the last three steps together if you don’t want to switch so much or if you just need to get things put away to free up space.

In having it in discrete steps, you can kind of pause it and walk away from it for a little while and come back after doing something more urgent or when you have more energy.