It’s that time again – more New Year’s Resolutions! If you missed my first New Year’s Resolutions post, check that out here. I have a lot of resolutions – and I did a lot of research on how I could make these resolutions happen. Maybe you could benefit from some of my findings.
Last week I tackled HEALTH & WELLNESS. Lots to do but it’s exciting. I think there’s so much out there that allows us to take better control of our own health. And today I’m sharing my goals to BE MORE ORGANIZED. shiver.
I consider myself somewhat organized. But it seems to come in waves. So I need to be better with this. Here’s my plan:
1. Declutter the house.
When your living space is clear, you can be more productive and less stressed. So my first step is to declutter. And the best advice I’ve heard for decluttering your home is to simply put stuff away at that moment. This is easier said than done for me. I like my piles. If my counter tops are messy, I just put the stuff in piles and I feel better, and it does look better. But it’s not better. Here are a few resources for decluttering or tidying up:
This book on decluttering: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It’s on the NY Times Best Seller List. I’ve only read reviews but it seems to have a lot of great ideas.
Check out The Handmade Home’s 10 Purging Tips to Live by.
And click here to read The Inspired Room’s tips on making daily cleaning better. And this post on the 10 Habits of a Highly Organized Person. Surprisingly, I follow 7 of the 10. I have to work on the other 3.
So my declutter-ing plan is to tackle each room of our home each month. By the end of the year we will be clutter free. hopefully. This approach goes against what it says in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – she advises tidying up by categories not rooms. But the #1 habit of a highly effective person is “Know what you like and stick to it.” I’m going with that. So I came up with this worksheet for decluttering our home. I know a year seems like a long time, but I think it’s realistic and that’s important. Click here to download a worksheet for yourself.
The Container Store is great resource for organizational items. I got this recycling bin there last year. It’s the perfect size to keep under my sink and it saves me lots of trips out to our recycling barrel in the garage. Do you have a junk drawer? I have three. I need this junk drawer organizer. Or maybe a few. Need some extra closet space? Try this extra hanging rod. And I love this battery storage container.
But remember things don’t always have to be hidden or put away to be organized. Organization can be pretty. I purged and organized my jewelry last year and came up with this solution. Click here to see that post. I’m still loving it today too.
2. Create a central command center
I love this term. Organizing a household – and all the activities that come with it – is challenging. And I haven’t been keeping up with this very well lately. I’ve been forgetting appointments and mixing up dates. I need a central command center.
A few years ago, I took down some cabinets in our kitchen area and replaced them with an Ikea cubby unit and I love it. Each child has their own small cubby, and there are spaces for basket storage, magazine holders for recipes, filing and bills. It’s a start but I need more. I love these ideas:
This command center from AKA Design.
And this one from Ciburbanity.
Princess Pinky Girl has lots of central organization ideas too.
I also need a calendar I can take with me when I’m away from the command center. I feel so official saying that. The calendar apps are too time consuming to keep up with. A friend of mine takes a photo of the calendar in her command center so she has it on her phone wherever she goes. It might not be very tech savvy, but I think it’s something that would work for me.
3. Dinner organization
Family dinners are rare for us these days. Or kids are older and have activities that don’t allow us to all be home at the same time together. Sometimes it happens, and those nights are special. I still try to cook almost every night but I always seem to be running out of ideas or I have trouble finding healthy options.
Last year I came up with a monthly dinner schedule but scheduling dinners for a whole month was a little overwhelming. I still plan to keep the monthly dinner schedule but only fill in one week at a time. This way I can see the big picture, but not have the stress of planning so far ahead. Click here to download a copy of this monthly dinner schedule and fill it out however it works for you.
A good friend of mine just started a Facebook group for daily dinner ideas. This is brilliant. Members post their dinner recipes whenever they can. I’ve already made several new dinners from this Facebook group and I love that I can access it at the grocery store and can quickly communicate with the group as needed.
Reserve take-out day(s). Give yourself a break. I find it works to reserve certain days for take-out or leftovers or one of our favorites: breakfast for dinner. I need to do these dinner breaks more.
4. Purge and update my technology
My computer, my phone – even my ipod shuffle – needs to be purged and cleaned up. I need to organize emails, unsubscribe to all the junk emails, and set up a portable hard drive for my computer. A new phone would be a nice treat too. I’m loving my new apps but I need more storage. And my photos – oh so many of them. I need to print them and put them on separate storage.
5. And other general organization goals:
Streamline my everyday lists. I carry around a single college-ruled notebook that contains my whole life: my to-do’s, ideas, sketches, grocery lists, notes, bills and general home info. Check out my post on how I transformed these notebooks with a chic buffalo plaid. I’m still looking for something more and since I haven’t found anything yet, I’m thinking DIY…
Visual inspiration. This may not seem like organization but I think seeing some daily inspiration makes us more empowered and productive. Click here to see some great inspirational art prints on my Pinterest page. Hang them up in your new central command center to make it a little prettier. Why not? You’ll be looking at it everyday!
And what about creating a mood board for the year? Click here to read about this fun concept. As designers, we use these when creating a company branding or designing a new space. But I love how it can translate to how you design your year. You don’t have to be the creative type, it’s just a way to plan what you like and what’s meaningful to you. Collect pictures, quotes, magazine articles, and start building a visual resolution mood board.
I’m sure there will be more organizational goals that come up as the year goes on but I think this is a good start. And I think there might be a lot of DIY projects coming out of my need to organize. Remember, organization can be pretty. I hope my resolutions to be more organized are helpful for you send along any tips you may have too. Have a wonderful day!
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