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Guides 6

• Going through a parent's paperwork

  A file cabinet is mostly junk mail and a few documents that are hard to replace. Pull the legal and financial papers first, keep the original order, and don't shred anything until you've seen the whole folder.

• Selling used clothing and shoes

  Clothes sell by size, brand and condition, in that order. A good photo of the label saves ten messages.

• Clearing an estate: the first few days

  What to do before anything is sold, donated or thrown out, and why the order matters more than the speed.

• Sorting a bookshelf quickly

  Books are heavy and mostly worthless. A twenty-minute pass per shelf finds the few that are not.

• Sorting a storage unit without paying for it twice

  A storage unit is a monthly bill attached to a pile of decisions you have not made yet. Here is how to empty one deliberately.

• What to do with a mattress nobody will take

  Most charities won't take a used mattress and most haulers won't pick one up without a call first. Work through the store, the hauler and the donation desk before it ends up in the alley.