Sort and Organize Your Household Items

The date of your move has been set and is getting closer. Reduce the stress of sorting through your household items with this tried and true technique.

The process of moving is one of the few times you will have the opportunity to come in contact with all of your possessions. This can be stressful, so how is one to get through this in an organized fashion? Use the TRAF technique.

The acronym TRAF was developed by Stephanie Winston in her book, The Organized Executive and stands for Toss, Refer, Act, File. The basic principle is to take a single item and ask: should it be Tossed; Referred or delegated to someone else; Acted upon; or Filed away for future use?

Give yourself plenty of time to sort through your items before your move. Generally, a good time to begin the TRAFing process is about six to eight weeks before your move.

Your first step should be to tackle one room in your home. Attempting to organize everything at once is inefficient and can be very overwhelming. Start with one item and ask yourself a few questions: What is it? Do I really need or want this? After asking yourself those questions, it is time to figure out what to do with it, and that is where the acronym TRAF really shines.

The first element, Toss, is self explanatory, but can be difficult with some items. If you are having trouble tossing items, just ask yourself this: What is the worst that will happen if I throw this out? The second element, Refer, means to give or delegate it to another person. Perhaps it's an antique you have been meaning to give away. The third element, Act, means to take action. We have all gone through a stack of papers and found a bill that needs to be paid. It's time to pay it! And finally, File, means to store it away for future use, or in this case, pack it for your move.

The TRAFing technique isn't just great for organizing your move, it's also great for daily work and home life. Try it out sometime; you might be surprised.