Some would think that sorting books is a menial task, but this guide shows you otherwise. Five different methods of organizing are presented for all types of people, from the logical to the emotional. Even an interesting design feature can be created if you organize your books the right way.

If you’ve ever frantically scanned your shelves for one book for half an hour before giving up and just rereading your favourite, you’ll understand the concept of “having too much stuff’.” Don’t worry, no one can be the perfect organiser, but here to help you out are six ways to organise your overflowing book collection.

1. Create categories by genre and topic

If your collection has a wide range of genres, but not too many overall books, this method is for you. You can assign a part of your shelf for each fiction genre or non-fiction topic. The main downside is that this is useless if you don’t remember where the allocated sections are. A labelling system could go along well with this and would especially help other people find their way around your bookshelf. Within the categories, you can sort using alphabetical order without much trouble.

2. Sort in alphabetical order

This is an extremely adaptable method; great for people with logical minds and a good grasp of the alphabet. You’ll be able to easily find a book as long as you know its title or author (depending on which way you implement this system) – which leads to a major downfall. If you’re looking to reread a book, but can only remember vague plot details, this method won’t offer any help. On the other hand, this is great if you’re good at remembering author names.

3. Think emotionally

This method creates a collection that is unique for everyone. Instead of sorting using information, you group books by how they make you feel; whether its joy, humour, sadness, anger or something else, almost every book makes you feel something. It’s up to you to decide what.

This system is great for the more emotional ones, who express themselves more with feelings than others.

4. Sort by colour

If you’re a “visual person,” this method will be great for you. This is also good if you think of a bookshelf as a design feature just as much as a storage space. Placing books back on your shelf can also be even easier with this system. The downside is that if you’re not one to “read a book by its cover,” this is the same as not sorting at all from a practical perspective.

5. Sort your books by physical size or shape

If you have strangely-sized shelves, you might run into a problem that makes it difficult, or even impossible, to use any of the other methods on this list. In that case, you might have to resort to organising your books by their physical properties. Some books are much taller than others, and some shelves just aren’t made for those books. This method would ideally be used alongside another. You could alphabetise the sized sections, or just create an extra “large books” section, outside of any other organisational method.

In the end, you can put your books together however it suits you. These are merely a set of guidelines to help you clear up a bit of space. Feel free to mix and match any of the above techniques to create the perfect collection for you.