Topic —  From the Publisher's Desk

The 20 Minute Purge

January 06, 2010
Sarah Morgenstern

Pocket

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?