You've already learned a little bit about sequencing in Spanish. Remember the expressions antes de (before) and después de (after)? You learned that these phrases are followed by the infinitive to say what you do before and after doing something else, but you can also shorten them to antes and después to talk about what you do before and after. You can also sequence things by using ordinals: primero, segundo, and tercero, for example, or talk about what you do in the first, second, or third place: en primer, segundo, tercer lugar. You can also sequence with words like “then” and “next”:después and luego.

Check out these two examples, one using antes de + infinitive and the other using despues de + infinitive:

Voy a limpiar el dormitorio antes de fregar la cocina.

(I'm going to clean the bedroom before scrubbing the kitchen.)

Después de regar, ¿quieres barrer?

(After watering, do you want to sweep?)

And here are a few examples using ordinals:

Primero hay que recoger la sala, segundo, sacudir.

First, the living room needs to be picked up, second, dusted.

En primer lugar, es importante escuchar.

In the first place, it's important to listen.

Primero, vas a lavar la ropa, después plancharla y luego guardarla.

First, you're going to wash the clothes, then iron them, and next put them away.

You can get all the help you need and in the order that you want it done; just ask nicely!