Getting Organized for the New Year
A few days after Christmas, I tend to lose my mind.
It's a good losing-of-mind though in that it reflects my inner desire for simplicity and ease in life. Basically, I walk into my house and realize it looks as if we could be the Christmas episode of Hoarders--stuff everywhere. Even Andy Rooney's quote: One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly, is lost under piles of Christmas paper and tipped over snowmen.
I realize I am someone who needs tidiness to help keep my mind clear. It also helps me feel less stressed. Walking into our living room and seeing a huge mess immediately weighs me down. Maybe it's because my inner 50's housewife thinks, "Great, now I have a chore." But I prefer simple over excessive, tidy over Dear-gawd-I'm-going-to-be-swallowed-by-Christmas decorations.
I pulled out my favorite books I received for Christmas two years ago-- One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week-by-Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good
, a fantastic book if you need help cleaning up and one I find rather motivating. Here are a few other things you may find helpful if you're also feeling overwhelmed by things--
There's a great (FREE) declutter calendar that you can print out month by month (or all at once to do a big purge). I've printed out January - April.
Another great item to help you stay organized is the BusyBody Book (about $12). While this book was made to keep track of larger families and who is doing what each day, I use it to keep track of my projects and what I need to do each day with them.
SimpleMom.com has a great group of free downloadable organizers. The Daily Docket is a great way to stay on task each day. And I just saw she also has 2 New Year's downloads--one for goal setting, the other for reflection on the past year.
So along with playing our new Jeopardy game for the Wii (I won $32,400 last night-- too bad it's in Wii money) and Uno Attack (our favorite family game), I'll be organizing my life this week with new year's resolutions on my mind...
Share
The calendar for tidying life is great. One simple task each day. Will do.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. Thanks for the inspiring post. You may also want to try becoming a FlyLady (FlyLady.net). It's a bit of a cult, but it's helped me out in the past!
ReplyDeleteJan, yes, I liked the one task a day. It's doable and offers the larger lesson of "every journey begins with a single step."
ReplyDeleteCelia-- I've heard of FlyLady! A couple years ago I printed out a weekly housecleaning schedule, what I liked was how she called one part of the cleaning the "weekly blessing." I will have to return to her again! Thanks for that.