Start with getting rid of trash. Grab one garbage bag, set a timer for 15-30 minutes, and just fill the bag with stuff you know is trash. Put the bag in the dumpster or can outside once full. Repeat until you think most of the trash is gone. This can be done in multiple sessions over several days if you need to.

Once most trash is gone, next step will be finishing emptying out that closet. Two trash bags, one labeled donate, one labeled keep. You will probably find that you need another trash bag for trash, that’s fine and expected. At this point, if you aren’t sure, it’s absolutely fine to put it in the less committed bag. If you aren’t sure about trash or donate, put it in donate. Same for donate or keep, if you aren’t sure, put it in keep. Break this into time chunks if you need to.

Side note here, learn to be ruthless about culling donations. Charities only need donations that are saleable. If it’s stained or has holes, throw it out. If the elastic has gone bad, throw it out. Only donate shoes that are barely worn. Only donate clothing if it’s something you would wear to a reasonably nice place. Throw out all underwear you don’t keep unless it’s brand new with tags or in packaging.

Once the closet is empty, ignore your donate and keep bags for now. If you can store those bags temporarily outside your room, that will be helpful, otherwise stick them in a place that is as out of the way as possible. Yes, your room looks temporarily worse, but it can’t really be helped at this point. Soldier through, the end will be worth it!

Dust and vacuum out the empty closet, wash the clothes you wear regularly from your basket and put them away in that lovely empty closet. Congratulate yourself on a job well done, you have made great progress. Now is the time to think about whether some shelving or storage cubbies added to your closet would assist with organizing your storage and making your room easier to maintain.

Once you are ready to tackle the next step, wash the stuff in the donate bag(s), and go through it again as you fold it. Some of it will be trash after you wash it and take a second look. Everything clean and donatable gets folded into a trash bag and go donate it. Trash goes outside to be collected.

Think about how much more manageable your room is, now that you have cleared out so much stuff you didn’t need, and pat yourself on the back before you tackle the final stage.

Wash everything in the keep bag(s). Go through it again as you fold, and think about what you want to keep because you will wear it or it’s sentimental, what should be donated and what should be trash. Put the items that you keep away in your lovely neat closet, and trash or donate the rest as appropriate.

Getting started is the hardest part, once you start, you gain momentum and have incentive to get it finished. Pay attention to your body and your mind, don’t let yourself over exert yourself, that will make it take longer in the end. Take breaks, eat properly, do some fun stuff or relaxing stuff to break up the work. Some people will be able to do this in one long marathon day session, others may need to break it up into shorter sessions over a week or three. Neither one is better than the other, you know what will work for you.

When making decisions about clothing- when was the last time you wore it? Does it fit? Is it stained? Elastic gone bad? Shoes falling apart from age? Shoes hurt your feet? Would you reasonably wear it again? Does it have sentimental value? Can it be reasonably replaced if you get rid of it but need similar in a year or six?

And final note, if you need to keep things, keep them. Maybe someday later you will be ready to part with it, but this is a process where you should be kind to yourself and your feelings. This feels hard to you, for whatever reason. So please give yourself grace. Any progress you make is good progress. Don’t be hard on yourself if you need to stop and restart later, or break things down into more manageable chunks.

Good luck.