The kids are home from school and cheerfully making messes, everyone and their sister has been at your house, you have been cooking, entertaining, and wrapping for what feels like a century and when you finally have a second to sit down and look up, you realize your house is destroyed!
Holy S**T!!
This all might be a bit overwhelming, but it's going to be okay! Your winter break is a perfect time to get your home in order for the New Year. Here are a few areas of the home to consider cleaning out and organizing this time of year:
- Holiday Decorations | Put these away neatly! Get rid of anything broken and donate anything you are over and the rest of it should be stored in an orderly way so you don't cuss yourself next year when it's time to decorate again.
- Your Bedroom | I've talked about the importance having a space of your own before, so if you haven't read that, please do. I'm talking about your dresser, closet, bathroom, bed... all of it! Get it cleaned out and orderly.
- Kids' Rooms | The kids probably just got a whole bunch of new stuff for Christmas which means unless they clean out their room and rid them of other things, they are filling up with clutter as we speak. They aren't using all of it and have outgrown much of it so it's time to let go of it! Depending on the age of your kids, your help will vary.
- Kitchen | Go through your cupboards and rid them of anything expired and of things you no longer need and use. None of us need 25 mismatched cups.
- Laundry Room | No one likes doing laundry, but having to do it in a crappy laundry room makes it even worse. Seriously, I just got depressed thinking about it. Clean that crap out! Chances are, your laundry room has become a catch-all for random junk... Get. Rid. Of. It.
- The Junk Drawer | You have one. It's filled with chords, menus, random parts to things you no longer own, a broken pencil, and other sad things. Dump it out and start from scratch.
- Closets | I'm lucky enough to live in a warm part of Arizona, so we don't really have the need for a lot of "winter clothes" storage, but if I did, I would handle it much like holiday decorations. Get rid of what is stained and old and put the rest up in a neat way. Throw some dryer sheets in to keep it fresh!
- Your Desk/Office | Whether you just have a desk or an entire office, trash anything that is out of date or that you can find online (product manuals for example). Close out your current year tax file and start a new one and get the rest of your files organized. The top of your desk should be neat, clean, and orderly because that will encourage you to want to be there and will maximize your work time!
- Your Choice | I don't live with you, so you might know in your heart there is a part of your house that needs your attention. Do it!
Okay, I know this is a lot... calm down! A cocktail will help, but so will some simple direction! First of all, you are NOT going to get this ALL done in a day, so lose that idea NOW. What you can do is break this into some smaller bites so you can start to eat this dirty, messy, stressful elephant.
Here we go!!
Step ONE: What needs the MOST urgent attention? Write down the household things above that need to be done in their order of urgency.
Step TWO: Delegate!!! You don't need to do all of this yourself. If you disagree, we have a LOT more work to do with your life! What can the kids do? What can your partner/spouse do? What can you hire someone else to do? I realize not everyone is financially free enough to hire someone, but you can consider trading or hiring a teenager. This doesn't need to cost a lot! Kids older than five years old can help with a lot of different tasks. The older they are, the more they can (and should) be responsible for helping with!
Step THREE: START... You have to START! You have your list, you see what you need to do first, so it's time to roll up your sleeves and get going. My advice is to set a timer and remove distractions (phones, computer, etc)... You have X amount of time to get this done! Challenge yourself to stay on task and get it done.
Step FOUR: You might need a sip of that cocktail at this point.
Step FIVE: Keep it going... Make a plan that you can follow that will allow you to get these things done over the next week or so. Try doing this with a friend so you hold each other accountable!
I hope this helps you get moving in a positive direction to set your New Year up to be freaking awesome! Share this with your friends and check out my website and Facebook page for more tips and tricks to help you live a positively happy life!
LOVE LIFE
