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I have a natural talent for organizing, it’s okay if you glare at the screen as you’re reading this.  What I’ve realized from helping those that don’t have natural talent is that the most frequent barrier to organizing is where to begin.  So here are some basic steps to get you started on your organizing journey.

1. Start small.  This is extremely important to remember when you are just beginning.  Pick a small area such as a medicine cabinet, a shoe rack, a drawer, etc.
2. Set aside a sorting area.  Since you are starting small this shouldn’t be an issue. Counter space, a clear area on the floor, the bed, any space that has a larger cleared area will work.
3. Brace yourself for a mess.  It will get worse before it gets better.  Take a deep breath and gather yourself.
4. Have a trash can handy. I guarantee you will end up throwing something away, it’s easiest just to have one within reach.
5. Take every single item out of the area that you are trying to organize and place the items in the sorting area.
6. Throw away anything broken, that has missing pieces, that is expired, or that you will never use but you can’t donate.  Place items to be donated in clearly marked bags so that they are designated from trash and easy to toss in the car when you are ready to take them somewhere.
7. Sort items according to likeness, pairs, or items you want handy at all times.
8. Will the items fit in the organizing tools that you have purchased?  If not rethink if you need everything or if there is another location that the items might possibly fit.
9. Place items neatly in bins or drawer organizers according to how you need to access them.
10. Place the rest of the items neatly in the cabinet, rack, cupboard, etc.

Have a hard time determining how to neatly place items in an area?  Here is an example:

Items I use the most are placed at the front of the bin along with smaller items so that I can see everything at a glance. Dish items are grouped together and cleaning products are grouped together.  Shorter items are also in the back so that the bin fits underneath the disposal.

The one mistake that I see others posting about is not prepping their work space and running into issues, especially when trying to assemble 10+ meals in a few hours or if they have multiple people prepping in the same area.  There are some simple things you can do ahead of time that will make your prepping session go easier.

1. Sanitize your counters.  I use disinfectant wipes and wipe down all of my surfaces that I’ll be preparing food on.  Preparing this much food at once has me a more than a little concerned about sanitation.  I also wipe down the surfaces when I’m done and sometimes even halfway through depending on how much raw meat I am cutting up.  I’m messy with food prep as it is, so a handy container of wipes is a necessity of mine.  Word to the wise, make sure after you disinfect that you also check the instructions on the wipes.  Frequently you’ll need to wipe down surfaces after a disinfectant so that it doesn’t contaminate your food.
2. Have plenty of dish soap on hand.  It takes so much time to run a load through the dishwasher when all you may need is a measuring cup or a prep bowl washed.  If you use a dish wand with the soap in the handle I recommend beginning with a fresh sponge on top and disposing afterwards depending on what you end up washing and how frequently.
3. Begin with an empty trash can.  There’s nothing that’s more annoying to me than when I’m in the cooking zone and I have to take out the trash in the middle.  It’s also good to begin with empty recycling bins.  These simple steps can save you the hassle of having to stop and run the trash and/or recycling out.
4. Empty the freezer.  This may take a few days prior, but you don’t want anything in the freezer that isn’t necessary so that you have the maximum amount of space available.  If you’re planning on using freezer bags you’ll want space to lay them flat.  One of the many benefits of living in the Midwest is having the frigid air of the outdoors during the winter.  Sometimes my food freezes faster outside on my deck.
5. Double check your supplies.  Do you have enough pans, prep bowls, measuring cups and spoons, freezer containers and bags, a Sharpie, masking tape?  Did you purchase everything on your shopping list?  Do you have extra spices for items you make that you want to add something to?  I’ve messed up plenty of times where I have forgotten something on my list or miscalculated the number of containers that I’ll need.  With mass cooking a few mistakes can happen easily.  To lessen these it’s good to double check lists and supplies before and during your prep.

If you find a plan that someone else has created they sometimes will have the basic supplies that you will need.  If you are creating your own plan or want to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything here is a basic supply list to make sure that your prep session is maximized.

Sharpie markers-make sure that you don’t use regular coloring markers, they will run in the freezer.  You will want to make sure to label everything and write instructions so that you don’t have to figure out what is in a container or how long to cook something.  I’ve used these on foil on casseroles, masking tape to label containers, and writing directly on the freezer bag.

Masking tape-I get annoyed trying to scrub marker off of my containers so I use masking tape as an easy way to create and remove a label.

Brand name freezer bags-the store brand and bargain bags just don’t seal as well as the name brand bags.  The bags will run a little more, but you can usually find coupons or a sale to save some money.  I found out the hard way that the cheap bags will only last a week or so before freezer burn sets in.

Freezer containers-again you will want brand name containers because they seal the best.  Make sure that the package says you can use them in the freezer, if they aren’t meant for the freezer then freezer burn will set in.  Rubbermaid, Glad, and Ziploc are all brands that I have found useful.  A word to the wise, make sure that you have space in your freezer for all of the containers you are putting in there.

Disposable pans-these take up a lot of room!  I have a freezer on top of the ‘fridge so these are not ideal for me.  But if you have a larger freezer these are a great way to make casseroles and freeze.  If they don’t have lids you will also want to have some aluminum foil on hand.  Disposable pans can be used again to prevent waste, but most people that I’ve seen that use this method do it so they can save their glass baking dishes for their other cooking.  They also work great for taking meals to someone.

Measuring cups/spoons-If you’re only doing a few meals one set will work fine.  I typically use three sets when I do 10+ meals.  It saves a lot of washing time.  I also use a large glass measuring cup and a large plastic measuring cup.

Prep bowls-I can never figure out how much one onion equals if I chop all of them at once, so I use prep bowls to separate items.  These simply go in the refrigerator so no need to have name brand bowls, but beware that onions will linger in plastic bowls so it’s best to use glass for those.