The Art of Sorting

My third suggestion for tackling the laundry monster requires moving back a few steps, to the point when the clothes are still dirty. I call this the art of sorting.

How do you sort your dirty laundry? If you go with the standard light-medium-dark divisions and that works for you, stick with it. However, if you'd love to know a better way, consider perfecting the art of sorting in your home.

Here's how it works. Take a look at your laundry with fresh eyes, and think about it in terms of how you live your life. What thoughts run through your mind when you bring dirty clothes into the laundry room?
"I'll need to get this clean as soon as possible."
"These things might have stuff in the pockets—don't forget to check."
"This stuff is damp, I need to wash it before it starts to stink."
"I'll have to remember to hang up these shirts as soon as they're dry."
"I'll need to hand wash these."
"I won't be wearing this again any time soon."
And so on. If that's how your mind works, then why not sort your laundry this way? Instead of three bins, get four or six or eight or whatever you need, and label each one with the type of dirty laundry it should hold:
ASAP
Check pockets
damp
permanent press
delicate
no rush
etc.
This way, when you start a load of laundry, you know exactly how it needs to be processed. Let's say it's Sunday evening and you've got a busy week ahead. Better to throw in the damp stuff or the ASAP stuff now, because you might not get around to doing laundry again until Friday.

Or maybe you're working on a project near the laundry room and you'll be ready for a break in an hour or two. That would be the perfect time to start the permanent press, because you know for a fact you'll be available to hang it up the moment it's dry.

Can you see where I'm going? By looking at the way YOU do laundry and then sorting accordingly, you're lessening the load, shortening the time, and solving one more type of mess in your home.