Should I just put all the mess back?

[nonewnamesagain]

I had a bit of a mad episode earlier on tonight and pulled all the crap out the cupboards, under the stairs, all stuff we don't really use and needs taking to the tip or charity or putting away in the house.

However I got distracted and now the house is absolutely awful. Its going to take me days to sort out, or I could just spend an hour now shoving it all back.

Anyone got any better strategies? I even organised it, but I can't bear the mess its created and it'll be a few days before I do a tip run etc.

Do you have a front garden or drive where you can stick it out the front with a FREE sign? People will have anything for free! I get rid of a lot this way xx

Stick it in boot of car?
It's half way to the tip then!

When I do things like this I put it in the back of the car ready to take to tip/charity shop/local charity seeking baby clothes etc to get in out of the way.

If it needs to go anywhere else (e.g pass on to a friend/return the library/pack properly and put in loft for next Christmas) I put it all in big bags and label them so it isn't a mess, they back back to the cupboard but with a destination in mind

Many years ago I had a go at Flylady and she had a system with 3 bags. I can't remember exactly what they were called but it was something like "Put it away", "Give it away" and "Take it away". Basically you have 4 categories - it lives here (so put it back, or to one side until you've finished emptying the cupboard); I want to keep it but it doesn't live here; I don't want to keep it and it's good enough for a charity shop; I don't want to keep it and it's only fit for the tip.

If you could sort what you have roughly into those 4 piles you'd make a lot of headway and save yourself loads of time next time you feel brave enough to tackle it. You could even put the final 2 categories straight into the boot of the car if you were feeling up to it.