Here’s a short-term idea for getting the house organized, but it’s a little dangerous. Dangerous because unless you complete all the steps, you risk having a really messy room on a long-term basis, but short-term this works great.
In “Getting Things Done,” David Allen suggests putting everything in your in-box when putting together your to-do list so that you can capture it. This strategy is sort of like that, but instead of an in-box, you have an in-room. Pick one room of the house that you basically plan on straightening up at the end. That will be the room for all the stuff that is out of place.
So you start in the kitchen, take all of the stuff that doesn’t belong in the kitchen, and go put it in that room. Then you can clean the kitchen – wash the dishes, wipe the counters, mop the floor, etc. Then you’re done. No other out-of-place stuff is allowed in the kitchen.
Move on to the dining room. Same thing. Pick up any stray items that don’t belong in the dining room and move them to your in room. Then you can wipe the table, sweep the floor, etc. And you’re done. No more miscellaneous stuff is allowed in the dining room.
Work through every room like this, removing items that don’t belong, placing them in your “in-room,” cleaning, and moving on. Yes, one room will be much messier at the end, but the rest of the house will be straight and clean much more quickly than normal.
The final step is to tackle your in-room. Take a quick inventory of the room, then grab everything that belongs in your master bedroom and go pick it up. Don’t just place them in the master bedroom; actually place them where they belong. Remember, the master bedroom is already straight and clean, so don’t mess it up again. Go back to your in-room and grab everything that belongs in the bathroom and go put it up. You get the idea.
There will inevitably be some leftover items that don’t really have a place. So figure out where they belong. Remember, you need a place for everything and everything should be in its place. So if it’s a new item, create a place for it. Once you’re done emptying the out-of-place items out of your in-room, it’s time to clean it. Dust and vacuum and you’re done with the house.
If you outsource the cleaning, you can run through this process before the cleaner shows up. It should be very quick because all you’re doing is straightening up the mess, not cleaning up the dirt.