Assess a collection for easy ways to arrange it into sections, using the principles of provenance and original order
If the collection has no obvious original order, arrange it by dividing the records into sections that reflect its original functions
Use these sections as the starting point for the collection level and series level catalogue entries
When you have time, you can catalogue the collect on further down to its file or item levels, to create more specific catalogue entries
Label, box and store your newly-catalogued collections and make the catalogue available via your cataloguing software
Add any research subjects you come across to your archive index, noting down which collection they came from. Later, go through your catalogue records and add in index terms.