It’s a snow day here. If you have a warm, cozy house and plenty of milk, eggs, and bread, then a snow day can be perfect for organizing hidden storage spots. If you have fifteen minutes, then you can organize your nightstand drawer.

SORT and Succeed guides you through a small organizing project like a nightstand drawer in about fifteen minutes. Honestly, it takes me much longer to take the pictures and write about it than it takes to complete this little project.

Step 1: Start with a written goal of 5 words or less

Organize nightstand drawer. 

Write it down so you don’t forget what you were doing when you get distracted.

This might be the one step that changes everything for you!

Step 2: Organize into groups

I took everything out and found three groups: fuzzy socks and slippers, sleeping masks, and foot cream. Most of these socks were given to me. Fuzzy socks apparently are my love language.

Step 3: Reduce, release and reset

Four things didn’t belong in the drawer at all. I had three orphan socks and a pair of fuzzies that were my least favorite. Those are all going away. Even if I find the mates later, I won’t be sad because I have seven pair of fuzzies, and that’s enough for me. (If you struggle with socks, do you have an idea of what “enough” looks like for you?) There was a bear eye mask that I have never used and will never use. There was a hand-sewn turtle that one of my girls made, and it really belongs in the keepsakes…if only I could remember which girl made it! And the heating pad should go in the first aid cabinet. With just those four things gone, everything else will fit very nicely.

Step 4: Tweak

I knew that these fuzzy socks needed a little more discipline inside the drawer. They had been running amok for far too long. Socks can be tamed with a simple, single relaxed fold. If only it were so easy to get my kids to behave, lol.

I am loath to spend money on needless organizing tools, and I love to re-use instead of reaching for senseless plastic bins! This is one of those times. An empty tissue box comes to the rescue here. Just snip off the top side, trim the edges, and it’s the perfect size to hold five or six pair of fuzzy socks. (I’ve always got a pair in the wash, so this is enough space.)

The tissue box acts as a natural divider for the other things in the drawer. Eye masks to the right, foot cream to the left. Dollars spent: $0.

Pro tip: For more shallow drawers, trim the box to your depth. For even more of an aesthetic boost, line the inside with your favorite shelf liner or gift wrap. But since I’ll never  really see the inside of that bin again, I’m leaving mine unlined.

Why yes, I do buy tissue boxes in my preferred colors for just this reason!

Step 5: Succeed and Celebrate

This one is easy. I get to use the foot and leg cream every night now, and I’ve been splurging and treating myself every morning, too. Sure, it’s a tiny little reward, but I hadn’t been taking that moment for myself lately. During the winter, it’s even more important to take care of dry skin. The rest of this snow day my feet might be spent near a heater that will dry my skin out even more, stuffed into snow boots, or bundled up in those fuzzy socks, so a little TLC without having to search for the foot cream is, indeed, a small celebration.

I hope I’ve inspired you to do at least a little organizing today, whether you are having a snow day where you are, or whether you find this article in the middle of summer. Organizing a nightstand drawer, like organizing a junk drawer, is a perfect quick hit of organizing happiness that can take just about fifteen minutes today.

If your nightstand drawer has far more random odds and ends in it, check out this post about organizing nightstand drawers.

If organizing your nightstand drawer gets you in the groove today, repeat again on another drawer, shelf, or closet. The SORT and Succeed system will help you organize AND maintain your past organizing projects…without having to re-invent the wheel.

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