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It’s hard to believe summer is just around the bend, but there is still plenty of time for spring cleaning! If you are planning on getting your home organized this spring or summer, one thing you will need to do before you purchase plastic storage containers and other organizational supplies is clear out the clutter. Until you take that first step, you will not know what kinds of household organization products to buy. Clearing out clutter is a very imposing task for many people. Here are a few quick tips to get you started.

1. Don’t try to tackle the whole chore at once.

This tip even goes for organizers who like to consolidate their chores. Even if you only have a single room to de-clutter, you are often looking at a physically laborious chore. If you are doing your whole home, you have even more hard work to look forward to. You will probably find it easier if you do one area of one room at a time.

2. Sort trash, items you may want to donate, and items you know you want to keep.

As you are going through an area and de-cluttering, have three convenient plastic bags ready to go. Throw trash directly into one of them, and replace it once it gets full. Have another bag to collect items you may wish to donate, and throw other items you know you want to keep into another. Do not try to find homes for those items while you are still de-cluttering, or you will again become overwhelmed. Come back to it at the end.

3.Donate everything you can.

Think twice before you toss something in the trash. Some items are a given; old paperwork that you do not need, for example. But don’t throw old clothes or toys away, even if they have a few flaws. Oftentimes thrift stores will sell these items at a discount, and many buyers will be more than happy to make repairs to used items. Just because you do not want to fix something doesn’t mean someone else can’t. Someone may actually need or want an item you consider worthless. Waste not!

4. Get children involved.

If you have kids, make sure they are involved in the de-cluttering chores for their own rooms. Do not throw away or donate their possessions without their permission. Children will often prefer to repair their own damaged toys rather than let them go, and may become resentful and unwilling to help in the future if they are left out of the process.

Once you have de-cluttered a room, you can think about organizing it. Take an inventory of any loose items which don’t have homes, and figure out if any of them can be stored in the room as it exists. If not, you will need to figure out what you need to store the possessions compactly and conserve space. A set of plastic storage bins is a great starting point!