I Struggle to Focus When Tidying, but the Ski Slope Method Makes It Easy, Even with a Packed Winter Schedule – It’s Perfect for Neurodivergent Minds

I have never tried a house-tidying trick that I love as much as the Ski Slope Organizing Method. I first tested it three years ago, and it is the only one that I've come back to time and again to help me easily restore order when my home descends into chaos.

All you need is a basket or tray, half an hour, and some music for boosted motivation. It is the simplest, most methodical way to tidy your home, and for me, it comes in handy every December when, between social events, trips away, and a very busy period at work, I don't have much time for housework.

This is why I go back to this decluttering method every not just every holiday season, but throughout the year. Here's how to use this expert tactic in your own home.

Why I Always Come Back to The Ski Slope Method in Busy Periods

The Ski Slope organizing method takes its name from the fact that you start in one corner of your room and work back and forth across the space, zig-zagging as if you are cascading down a ski slope.

Using a Joseph Joseph folding laundry basket from Wayfair, I collect up all the mess cluttering up one corner of my room, putting items back as needed, before moving over to the next corner, emptying the basket of items that live there, collecting anything that needs to be moved, and crossing back over and repeating the process.

When I reach the doorway, I head to the room where the most amount of items in the basket belong and start again.

For example, I usually start in my entryway-dining room space, putting coats and accessories back on hooks and collecting items from the table, before typically heading upstairs to the bedroom, where most of the residual items belong. When the bedroom is complete, I typically work in the office, putting books and cables away, and so on. It usually takes me less than half an hour to complete and makes such a difference to my home.

It's particularly handy for all the guests I have coming in the next few weeks, as November and December have shaped up to be the most socially-packed two months of 2025 for me.

The beauty of this method is that it reduces distractions and gives you a prop with which to focus your efforts, helping to anchor you more firmly in the task at hand.

While I am not diagnosed with a neurodivergency, I am certainly very easy to distract and quick to procrastinate (which is how the mess accumulates in the first place). Having a clear goal and anchor point means, however, that the ski slope method can be ideal for creating an ADHD-friendly home.

Gillian Economou, owner and lead organizer at Sort It Out, uses this approach with her ADHD clients, claiming that it is the simplest way she knows to stay focused. ‘Using a ‘single path’ makes for quick visual wins and prevents the room from pulling your attention in 10 directions,’ she explains. ‘The room becomes the checklist, and for neurodivergent minds, the working mental load is lighter, and momentum is easier to keep.’

Breaking larger, messy rooms into smaller sections is a great approach to tidying your home when you feel overwhelmed. The -ber months at the end of each year always spell chaos for my schedule, and my home takes the brunt of it. Tables and worktops get buried, items end up piled in corners, and storage overflows with seasonal additions. It feels impossible to tackle until it is divided up. You can also use the Mount Vernon method and work clockwise around your room, rather than back and forth, if sticking to the wall is more helpful.

The wonderful thing about this method is that it can be used to tidy, declutter, and organize your home. While I primarily use it for tidying up, the method often helps me to identify items that do not have obvious homes within my home. These items end up lingering in the basket, and give me an opportunity to either find homes within my home organizing ideas, or declutter them. It is the home organizing systems that keep me sane.

You don’t have to tackle everything right away, either. As the items are neatly stashed in a basket, you can put them to one side should you run out of time or energy, or, as Gillian does with her clients, leave sentimental items to one side for a separate session, so you can get rid of sentimental clutter with discharge decluttering, working carefully to avoid declutter regret.

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Meet the Expert

Gillian Economou

Gillian Economou is the founder of Sort It Out Organizing, serving clients across Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. With a background in business, nonprofit management, and federal project management, she combines structure with creativity to deliver practical, lasting organizing solutions. From decluttering garages to organizing kids’ playrooms and managing moves, Gillian has built a reputation for creating spaces that are both functional and beautiful.

Of course, one of the things people with tidy homes do is put items away as soon as they use them to prevent lingering piles. The one-touch rule can help with this if you are looking to build better habits than me over the holiday season.