New year, new you. Are you craving change in your life? Maybe hoping you can get organized in the new year and focus on the important things?

For those of us who love a significant start date for a significant change, there’s no better time than January first. There’s something about those fresh calendars and planners, knowing that the whole year is brand-spanking-new that frees us to be a better version of ourselves. To shelf the bad habits and grab hold of the good ones.

And while the stats for New Year’s Resolutions are pretty grim–U.S. News reported that 80% of resolutions fail by February—we still try. For many of us, New Year’s Day is our big moment at the starting line. But for others, a new week, a new home, or a new baby are all reasons to make a change.

If you follow my blog, you know that I love resolutions. I consider personal growth an important part of our humanity, a way for us to constantly shed our old skins for brighter, stronger, and better ones. But this post isn’t about personal growth or resolutions.

This is about how to get organized.

My home, and largely my life, became very chaotic this fall. Taking on the homeschooling of three children and advocating for one with developmental delays, all while trying to write and freelance, created a whirlwind of activity. Did I mention we are a one-car household?

I found myself spending less time enjoying our days together and more time running on an ever-accelerating hamster wheel. All that bustle and chaos let to a lot of clutter and disorganization in what should have been our haven—home.

As I tell my kids, change what you can and accept what you can’t (a much less poetic version of the Serenity Prayer). So, while getting organized didn’t solve everything that ailed me, it smooth out a lot of the hitches in my step that were constantly threatening to trip me up (and often did).

If you’ve been struggling to get your life, home, relationship, or anything else in order, then here are some suggestions for ways to bring calm to the chaos.

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Pinpoint the areas that are giving you the most trouble

This may seem easy, but making a list of your biggest trouble spots can require some thought. Seriously think of when and where your day goes south, what is going wrong and why.

For me, my struggles were in the physical mess in my life. Clutter upsets me. From a disorganized purse to a missed appointment that never made it on the calendar, to the toys all over the floor, these things were derailing my day and my attitude.

Brainstorm ways to get around these trouble spots

Would using an app like Cozi help keep appointments organized and at your fingertips? Would scheduling a weekly date night help keep your marriage more in sync? Could cutting veggies on the weekend make them more likely to be snacked on during the week?

Ask around and read up on those who are having the same struggles as you. Learn from their trials and errors, and see what fits your lifestyle.

I was constantly bending over to pick up odd socks and pjs that were left around, then had to remember to walk them up to the laundry baskets, or to the back of the house where the washing machine was. It irritated me to no end, but I could never get everyone upstairs to change in their rooms like “normal” kids do. The book The House That Cleans Itself gave me an excellent idea.

Put it into action

Here’s where we make our own trials and errors. Some ideas may work, just not for you or me. Give your solution a try, and if it doesn’t take, then tweak it to better fit the natural rhythms of your family.

Mindy Starns Clark’s book inspired me to put a laundry basket in the corner of my living room. Since I almost always dress the kids downstairs, this became my base of operations. And now I don’t have lost socks floating around. I empty the basket often and hide it when we have company. But it really makes my day easier.

Cull the Clutter

Not just physical clutter, but weed out the extraneous things and redundant steps that are cluttering up your day, and keeping you from getting organized and doing what you really want to do.

Organizing for the new year means starting it with your best foot forward. What’s slowing you down or acting as a hurdle to your progress?

For me, this was all about redundancy. Why was I writing the same appointment on two calendars, in a planner, and typing it into an app? Why were the three girls’ hairbrushes in three different locations? And why were the homeschool books spread out throughout four rooms instead of in the actual classroom?

Streamline

Becoming more efficient in our daily tasks doesn’t just save us time, it saves us mental energy. The reason our brains form habits is so that we can do the same tasks with as little brain input as possible, saving it for more important things.

So, take similar tasks and group them together to ensure that they can be done efficiently. Put things that are done together in close proximity to encourage seamless transitioning.

In that same living room-cum-dressing room, I have a decorative box that now holds brushes, ponytail holders, and clips. Clothes and hair get done together, so I no longer have to fret about finger-combing knots or feel embarrassed when we go out and my kids look like they went through a windstorm.

What can you streamline in your life? How can you organize your day for the new year so that it’s more efficient and easier for you?

Don’t be a statistic

While getting organized for the new year isn’t really a New Year’s Resolution, it can easily fall by the wayside like all of those February failures each year. Don’t let your motivation wane and your progress backslide.

I am the queen of this. Holding a habit can be hard, especially when it involves other people and their compliance. Organization is just one more habit.

There are going to be setbacks, but you can always come back to where you started and rethink the solution.

Find your trouble spot. Brainstorm fixes. Make them happen. Get rid of the clutter. Streamline the process. Rinse and repeat.

Whether you are trying to organize your kitchen cabinets, solve a family scheduling problem, or keep your kids from turning your minivan into a dump site, you can get organized for a new year.

Lasting change isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s small, and boring, and even unglamorous. But the important thing is that it lasts and makes your life better.

 

How do you plan to organize for a new year? What methods have worked for you in the past, or haven’t? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

 

Looking for more on organization? Check out these related posts:

10 Tricks for Keeping Your Home Neat

The War on Clutter: Creating a Battle Plan

How Living Intentionally Can Bring Peace to Your Day

 

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