Home from work or school today, this “gift” day off of New Year’s Day + 1?!
It’s a bonus day, folks, so make it count!
Forget the big profound New Year’s resolutions like making peace with your erstwhile ex, or flossing EVERY night instead of once a week. As your friendly, “FREE” professional organizer and proud owner of FREESPACES, llc, it is my duty to help you be an organizing superhero today and throughout 2017. To kick start the new year painlessly yet still give you a REAL sense of accomplishment today – here goes: (And you can finish this list by dinner time today.)
- Go through your COAT closet and kids’ rooms and collect all outgrown or unloved coats, boots, jackets, sweats, hats and gloves and donate TODAY to your favorite thrift shop, homeless shelter or local charity. If you find any outgrown scooters, sleds, or skates in the process, by all means include them too. FREESPACE will miraculously appear!
- Grab all those lovely traditional holiday cards, add the senders’ info and updates to your Contacts’ list, and then either store with past years’ cards or send off to the recycle bin with love and thanks to those dear friends who somehow remember you and find you year after year even if you haven’t seen them in ages. You are part of their story, and they are part of yours. Savor each happy photo and then say ciao until next year!
- Medicine! Okay, time to go through the bathroom and make it a pleasant and healthy place to start and end your day. First, go through ALL medicine, Rx’s and over the counter! Get rid of all outdated medicine. DO NOT FLUSH. Put in a plastic bag and deliver to your local designated collection facility. Refresh or replace TODAY anything that is important to have at the ready: band aids, pain relief tablets, cough medicine, etc. If your method of storing these items is random or annoying, buy a compartmentalized plastic bin (or locked box if children in the home) and organize by frequency of use.
- Makeup and Toiletries! Same as above, folks. Is your makeup a jumbled mess or a sane system? Simplest way to streamline and update your makeup: do your daily makeup routine today. Those are the items you should keep but first…Set aside each item you use. Evaluate their condition. Get rid of old mascara, lipstick you don’t love, etc. Update these essentials. Set up in a way that makes it super easy for you to get ready each day – either an acrylic organizer to sit on top of vanity or in a simple make up bag you can keep under the sink or throw in your bag. Everything else – TOSS! Get your makeup down to the essentials. [If you travel often, create a TSA-friendly duplicate in a zip lock bag.] Do the same for creams, makeup remover, nail polish etc. Then treat yourself to a few new colors or the latest wrinkle-release fad! Go through each category – deodorant, fragrances, razors, toothpaste etc. End goal: no junk or empty containers cluttering up your valuable space and frustrating you when you try to find the eyeliner you actually DO want to use.
- Pens, pencils and other school/office supplies. This one is fun. Do it while drinking your coffee or cocktails! (Or subcontract out to the kids.) Test every pen and marker. Throw out the ones that no longer work. Designate or purchase an attractive holder and put in logical place (drawer or desk). Have kids do same in their backpack. Sharpen your pencils for the new year. (Think of this as a metaphor for taking on the new year armed for battle!) Go out later and purchase whatever else you need – new tape dispenser, printer ink or paper clips. And enjoy the feeling of empowerment, reinforced with all the ammo you will need to manage the incoming: bills, homework, invitations, work, To Do lists and more!
- Ah, yes, our furry friends’ stuff can also take on a life of its own. Go through all your dog and cat toys. Get rid of the disgusting ones. Sew up or toss the stuffed toys with the stuffing coming out! Clean their bowls. Check their tags and medical records. Wash their dirty leashes and collars or buy new ones if their friends at the dog park are making fun of their old ones. Do you have a great place to hang their leash(es)? If not, spring for a cute wall-mounted hook. If your pet(s) are lucky enough to have their OWN bed (as opposed to yours), wash it. (I would suggest washing the animals too but that would be pushing my organizing guru luck.)
- OK, I am not going to go there today. Too much effort for Jan 2. But…DO go through all your magazines, periodicals, flyers from Macy’s, etc. Only save unread or super valuable magazines or coupons. Donate good magazines to your local Ronald McDonald House or hospital, recycle the rest. Establish ONE GOOD place to keep these items and cull regularly. Have your kids go through their backpacks and do the same.
- Same deal. A big project for later. BUT…make sure you have put your pics in the cloud, and organize them for easy access. AND…review all the photos you have in frames throughout the house and pick a few to update with NEW pictures. Print out at home or stop by CVS today. What a nice way to start the new year. Photos of your favorite people to smile upon you throughout the new year – good vibes go a long way.
- If you have kids give them this project. If not, bite the bullet and put every commitment you know of for 2017 into your calendar. Get your family to do the same. Do you have a shared calendar? If not, consider starting one. Come up with a system that works for you!
- I am not a life coach, per se, so I am not going there today. But I can suggest a few organizing axioms that should be easy to establish and practice every day. Starting with a simple organizing theory I adopted when I lived in a 13-foot-wide house for 20 years. It’s the zero-sum game. If something – anything – comes into the home, something has to go out. It will keep you honest. So, you buy a new sweater. You have to give one away. You bring home a new spatula. Remove the old one. Don’t overbuy. Don’t overload. Don’t stuff “stuff” into a drawer. FREE up space. Don’t FILL it. And as a result, you will find you have MORE ROOM in your life for the really good stuff.