A good way to picture why you must clear out clutter before organizing is what I like to think of as the garage principle. Imagine a garage, completely crammed full of stuff — so much stuff that you cannot walk in, let alone park a car there. If you were to simply “organize” such a space, it would perhaps look neater, with everything sorted by category and stacked up in attractive containers — but the containers would still reach the roof, and the space still wouldn’t function as anything more than a storage unit. By clearing out the unnecessary junk first, you can create more space, which will help in the next phase when you organize what’s left.

How to Organize Your Garage on Nearly Any Budget