With the new year comes new resolutions, and for moms, that often includes something about organization. By the time January rolls around, I am usually itching to do a little purging due to Christmas overload, trying to find a place for all the new things that arrived from the North Pole and the general pile-up of cold weather gear around the house. But January also brings ski season and with two kids racing and one in ski lessons on Saturday and Sunday (plus the hockey games and practices), we’re pretty much not home on the weekend again until March Break, which means no day-long organizing sessions. So I have to fit it in during the week, which is tough to do after work, driving kids to afterschool programs and all the other nighttime duties required to keep things under control around here.
But I can’t wait until spring (clutter causes me pain, it really does). So I have come up with a simple plan—before I go to bed every night, I resolve to spend 20 minutes attacking one clutter-filled spot in the house. It might be under the bathroom sink, a shelf full of sweaters or one box of toys in the basement, but whatever it is, it’s something I can start and finish in 20 minutes so I get that sense of satisfaction from completing an organizing job. So far I am three for three the last three nights and I think by the end of January, I will have made a lot of progress.
Exciting stuff, I know (well, sadly, it actually is for me…). What are your resolutions for 2010?
Comments
If I do this organizing and decluttering with “vigour & intensity”, can I also claim that I exercised that day and get credit for making strides on two of my new year’s resolutions? ;)
Absolutely that counts! So what are you going to tackle first? So far I have done under the bathroom sink, a shelf full of sweaters, and Laine’s closet. Tonight the toybox in the sunroom and tomorrow Laine’s desk ... perhaps next week I will get to a few drawers in the kitchen! Keep me posted on your progress!
I’ve been focussed on drawers… Desk drawers, kitchen drawers, kids’ drawers. I’ve already got a big box it the garage labelled and ready for that good will drop off. When I am tackling clutter, I use the 12 month rule. If we haven’t touched it in over 4 seasons, it’s gone. Sadly, I must confess that I engage in the occasional “date stickering” for items in my closet. If I check back and see a year’s gone by and I haven’t removed the sticker because I used the item, then so long to that item! This system works well on those mysterious boxes full of stuff we store and forget about too. The things I do for kicks, eh?
One drawer a day would be a great way to attack this as well. This weekend I did the pantry and a desk at our ski chalet. Tonight my daughter’s top drawer, tomorrow the basement toy shelf.
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