Sorting Tasks, Sorting Clothes

We have a never ending load of laundry going in our house. Between two messy young boys plus my wife and I working out daily-ish, there’s always something to be washed, dried, folded, or put away.

The folding is what really gets me. Everything stage is moving piles of clothes. Folding takes attention and time. I rarely want to fold clothes though.

To combat my resistance to folding I started sorting and prioritizing types of clothes and by person. This helped me see lots of little piles to knock out quickly. For example…

• The boy’s clothes don’t require much folding, so quick win!
• Towels are easy to fold
• Hanging clothes, nbd
• Pants are actually quick too
• Shorts don’t require too much
• Socks and undies get tossed in a drawer
• Shirts are last because they require the most attention

You could reverse this too, like my wife. Start with the most time-consuming and finish first. Everything is downhill after that.

It struck me that we can approach work tasks like this. Writing down all your tasks for the day or week can quickly lead to overwhelm. Everyday there are more clothes tasks to get done!

Sorting tasks and goals into “piles” can help you see which are high priority, how long they might take, and how easy they are. Then you can pick and choose based on your available time or energy level. You may see a series of quick emails to respond to in 30 minutes or schedule a time to work on that big project for a couple focused hours.

Whether folding clothes or prioritizing projects, it’s helpful to sort out a huge pile of work into smaller piles to pick through one at a time. This helps you see steady progress, get a few wins, and build momentum to completion.