A gold-standard practice of good organizing involves the practice of zoning. Zoning is where you group and store things together based on what they are or how they are used. For example, in your kitchen you can create a "baking zone" where you keep all of your baking supplies. Or, in the context of your entire home, you can have a "reading zone," a "crafting zone," or, if you have kids, a "toy zone."

I think zoning is highly effective because it is fairly simple and straight forward. And better than that, it doesn't cost a thing. But that doesn't make it necessarily easy. What makes zoning the most successful and efficient is a good strong sense of intention. You really need to take the time to think through how you use your "stuff" and where you use it most naturally.

For example, say you like to knit as a hobby. And you find that you do most of your knitting at night while watching the tv. Well, then I think a good idea would be to set up a small knitting "zone" with at least your most frequently needed knitting supplies within easy reach.