Many people will never use a professional organizer. While an organizer can provide simple solutions to what feels like a complicated project, the truth is, you can do it yourself. What you really need is the motivation to get started.

Here are a few simple things to get you merrily on your way to a more organized space:

Envision your space how you want it. For example; if it’s a garage, and you can’t park there (a common problem), your vision will be to park in your garage. For a “junk room,” your vision may be a hobby or craft room. For a kitchen, it might be something much simpler like keeping the main eating space clear of mail and debris.

Start. Yep, it’s that simple; just start … somewhere, anywhere. It makes it easier to begin with a trash bag and at least three boxes (box 1: donation, box 2: keep, box 3: goes elsewhere, optional box 4: to repair). Your boxes and bags will fill up, so plan on having some spare empties.

Set aside some uninterrupted time. By saying it’s uninterrupted; it means you won’t be distracted by kids, phones or TV. It can just be 20 minutes every day. If you work well with time limits, use a timer and make a commitment to yourself to work on your project daily.

Recognize it’ll get worse before it gets better. Often when organizing a room, things from that room get shifted to other parts of the home. Try to give those shifted items a home, donate them or give them to a friend. Also, the room you’re working on may get really messy as you’re sorting. This is normal. Just keep going; it’ll get better as you keep moving forward.

If it still feels too daunting, call a friend. By having an objective party present, often the work goes more quickly, and your friend can “push” you to get rid of more stuff.

These are all simple, low-cost solutions to what may feel like a huge problem. If you can make some progress, one of the toughest things is sticking with it. Just keep going - organizing is a process, not an event. Even professional organizers have to keep re-organizing their own spaces!