Oh--this one's actually from "How to Keep House While Drowning," but I also really like it so I'm putting it on this post as well. This is the "Five Things" tidying up method. I really like this because it's object-focused rather than "big scary task" focused and you can significantly improve a space just by running through 1 or 2 of the steps.
Garbage: Take a trash bag and pick up all the loose trash around the house. Don't take the trash out yet as you may run into more trash as you clear the space more and more.
Dishes: Any dishes that have found their way into random rooms all go in the sink. Don't worry about washing them yet.
Clothes: Grab a laundry basket and grab any loose clothes around the house. Toss them into the basket. "But this jacket is dirty but not *that* dirty!" Okay if you're gonna wear it again you can hang it up. If it's stressing you out sitting in a big pile on that chair, just hang it up in the closet. If you're okay with it on the chair, you can leave it on the chair. You might want to invest in a coat rack or wall-mounted coat rack so that outerwear that you usually grab in your "desire paths" around the house have a more official designated spot that's less visually cluttering than the Scary Coat Blob On Chair. Also don't worry about washing the clothes yet, either.
Things on surfaces that have a place they can go. Pens can go in that pen-holder. Books you aren't currently reading can go back on bookshelves. It's okay. Yes, object permanence is hard but I promise you the objects still exist when they have a place to live. You aren't hiding them from yourself and you aren't going to forget about them forever. You're clearing your visual field and making your space functional for when you do decide to pick them up again.
Things that don't have a place they can go. This is where you figure out the place they can go, or if it's time to throw them out. You've taken a lot of the overwhelm and decision fatigue out of the equation at this point by getting all the garbage, clothes, dishes, and Things-That-Have-A-Home out of the way. Maybe you're a little too worn out from steps 1-4 to really tackle this yet, that's okay, you've still probably made a significant improvement in your space and you should be proud of that.
Okay now you can take the garbage out, do the dishes, and run the laundry. Or just take the garbage out if you're really wiped and the dishes and the laundry aren't too significant. Put a podcast or some music on. Let's go hands-on brain-off mode.
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