Reorganizing efficiently - Is it possible?

If you have ever found yourself in a place where project ideas are mixed with all else and the quality bar is quite low, have you found techniques that make the reorganization process easier? When I say the quality bar is low, I mean the certain aspects from the earlier stages are mixed right in with the later stages when ideas had become more focused before again changing, etc, etc…. I am interested in any helpful insight you may have after having reorganized a pile of mixed content and realized certain benefits or risks of spending too much or too little time upfront digging back and putting everything in its right place.

I am trying to find a balance between the extreme of specifically focusing on properly detaching the anchor, which may slow forward progress in the meantime, and the other extreme of just moving forward with what is memorable directly in my mind. Of course there is plenty of middle ground that may involve using search to pull up ideas I know are in there or temporarily utilizing or adapting some of my past linking or tagging structures. In this space, is where I am curious about how people may have benefited from using Obsidian to trim the waste and find the gems. Don’t get me wrong, at this point, I have a miserable mix of unlinked and untagged extremely lengthy multifaceted notes, and short atomic linked and tagged notes, and everything in between.

Assuming, I don’t already have a new system in place moving forward, is it dangerous to let the failed old systems help influence or even dictate my path, just for the sake of losing less and more quickly taking steps ahead? If it makes more sense to just move forward doing things right from this point on, how do you settle up and retrieve the important parts from the past chaotic mess? Ultimately, my difficulty lies in finding the best way to maintain some sort of bridge to the past content.

Thanks for any wisdom in advance! I know there are a lot of questions here. I obviously am not expecting someone to step in and save the day. I just figured it would help paint the picture of the place I am, the places I was, where I want to go, and my conflicting feelings about the various routes.

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