I separate laundry into 9 categories: dark sweaters, light sweaters, lint free black, linty darks, linty lights and mediums, bed linens, towels, "gummies" (clothes worn by people who just can't help dripping grease all over themselves and who attract other unbelievable, unidentifiable stains.), and "problems." "Problems" include clothes that haven't been washed before and might run so are washed separately, clothes with stains that didn't come out in the gummy load and clothes that probably shouldn't be washed but I will wash anyway if I can only figure out how.
My laundry is in the basement. Everyone sends his or her own clothes down the laundry chute. There are shelves across from the washer with nine baskets on them. A couple of times a week I take the clothes out of the chute and toss them into the appropriate baskets. I wash the contents of a particular basket, except for the problem basket, when it is filled to overflowing because that's a full load in my washer.
My system evolved. It sounds complicated but the process is simple. I probably spend less than five minutes a week sorting laundry.
Sorting isn't the problem. Things that bug me about laundry are the sheer volume of it and stowing it once it's done. There are only two of us and we wear most things a couple of times before washing them. I only change sheets every two weeks. It still seems like I do a lot of laundry. I have to carry the wash up two floors. I have some limitations and can't carry a whole basket so it seems like there's always more laundry to carry up.