As cliché as it is to say, “it’s time for a fresh start,'' it really is.
It’s time. How long have you had the same clutter piles in your home,
the same financial issues that you have yet to try to address, and the
same unhealthy habits that you feel so guilty about? It’s time for a
fresh start! This time of year is PERFECT for this for several reasons.
First, the weather tends to keep us indoors and that’s where we can
really force ourselves to sit down and knock some major items off our to
do lists. Also, what better time to start new habits and clear the
crap out of your life then at the beginning of a new cycle?! So today I
have several aspects of your life that you may want or need to work on
as well as some ways to do it. In this post you’ll find links to
tutorials, free printables, and other tips and tricks.
The Great Purge
You know that feeling you get when you finally go through a pile of junk on your counter, clear it all away and then you have a sigh of relief. You did it! You dealt with it!! Well imagine having that feeling in nearly every aspect of your life! Purging and decluttering is when you get rid of unnecessary things that don’t bring you great joy or save no real purpose. One of the most popular ways to do it is the KonMari Method. And lucky for you, I have a free printable KonMari checklist for every category of item in your home! The best time to start this is after your holiday decorations are taken down. This is when your home is starting fresh and new. I often comment on how bare but clean and uncluttered my house looks come January.
Set aside an entire day, week, or several hours each day to work on declutter each aspect of the inside of your home. When you have more open space in your home, you feel better. You aren’t as stressed when you aren’t staring at piles and piles of stuff that seems daunting to sort through. What do you do with all this stuff you purge though? Well, donate it! I mean, if you want to you can sell it, but that can be a huge task of it’s own and it’s still sitting around your house each time it doesn’t sell. So if you really want it gone, donate it! If you’re struggling with your closet, check out my guide on how to purge your wardrobe. Don’t start organizing and cleaning until the purge is done!!! And don’t forget to purge the digital aspects of your life like apps you don’t use, unsubscribing from email newsletters, and cleaning up your friends list on social media!
When it comes to your finances, you can still purge there! Cancel subscriptions you don’t use or gym memberships you’ve neglected (or start utilizing them!). Cut up old credit cards and gather your gift cards you find so you can start using them.
When you’re done in every aspect of your life, take a deep breathe and find peace knowing that if you keep on top of things (we’ll get to that later), you can definitely live an organized life like this forever.
The Great Organize
Once you have emptied your home and life of the unnecessary or impractical things, it’s time to organize them. Put everything in a logical place. No more piles (to deal with later), instead you need to deal with the mail as soon as you retrieve it from the mailbox. No more losing things, because everything will have a place and you will always return things to that place.
I have plenty of budget friendly storage solutions but don’t be afraid to get creative and work with what you have already in your home. That means using boxes and bins you already have to keep every single drawer organized, folding fabrics and clothing in the most space efficient ways and keeping things in the most logical place. Scissors would be nice in every room of the house of course but keeping them in the craft room or office (and maybe one pair in the kitchen) is much more logical. If you feel overwhelmed with where to start, try your closet first. Just like with the KonMari method of purging and decluttering, you can go in that same order. It’s easier to organize by category than room, I promise!
The Great Clean Up
Now that everything has been organized into its own spot, it’s time for you to clean. Cleaning is a great form of self-care. I promise you that nothing feels better than going HARDCORE when you clean after the holidays and at the start of a new year. And by cleaning I don’t just mean vacuuming and mopping, I mean vacuuming under every single piece of furniture (hello dust bunnies), scrubbing high and low, washing windows inside and out, scouring the kitchen, scrubbing the fridge, and fixing any patches or holes in the walls. When you do all of these things, imagine you are clearing the negative or difficult experiences you’ve had in your life and in your home away, and you’re making room for nothing but positive ones.
Of course, the key is to keep on top of this. How is that possible? Well, personally for me, when I cook, I clean up after myself as I go. This is the easiest way I’ve found to keep a clean kitchen. As the water is boiling for pasta, I am putting my items away, sanitizing the counter, and setting the table. At the end of each day, I scan the kitchen, dining room, and living room for any items that don’t belong and I then take them to where they belong.
For the rest of your house, now is the time to clean all the little nooks and crannies. This means polishing wood furniture, cleaning drapery, moving furniture to dust behind it, and anything else your home needs.
The best part about when you’re finished is that there’s a fun aspect that still needs done. Now you can fill your home with scents like essential oils or candles to keep it fresh and pleasant. You can launder pillow covers so your couch and throw pillows look brand new, and you can set out your comfiest throw blankets and display your most beautiful collectibles.
Planning Home Life and Home Maintenance
So lucky for you I have a free printable home management binder which is quite frankly the easiest way to track any kind of maintenance for your home or living space, as well as important contacts, home projects, utility bills, and more. It’s a good idea to begin tracking when your bills are due and when you pay them, what maintenance needs done around the house, your plans for home projects, your family’s schedules and activities, your automobile maintenance, and create cleaning lists to use on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can do all of that with my free binder! It’s important that you keep up with everything, but since I already did all the organizing for you, all you need to do is stay on top of filling everything in.
The physical parts of your home are one thing, but the activities that happen in and around it are super important and need to be tracked.
Planning for Your Health
This is by far the most important part of anyone’s life because without your health, what do you really have? And you know who has the most control over your health? YOU!!! There are several parts of this that involve planning things for your health and then maintaining them.
So, first things first, make sure you have your appointments for your health written down, with reminders to make your next appointment. This means dentists, doctors, gynecologists, dermatologists, therapists, and any other professional you may see. Doing this ensures you’re keeping on top of your health and it’s highly likely that if something goes wrong, it’ll be caught early.
This is also a time to set your goals and intentions for the fitness aspect of your life. Do you want to move more? Start writing down goals and then steps you need to take daily in order to achieve them. If you want to lose weight, staying active daily will obviously be a big help. Do you want to learn a new practice like yoga? Write down the supplies you need and set aside time each day in your schedule to practice. You can even sign up for classes if you don’t think an online tutorial is enough for you. You have a fresh calendar for this new year, so start setting your daily tasks which include any exercise you wish to do.
Do you want to eat better? Well, meal planning is a great way to start that! I have a beginners guide to meal planning and honestly, it won’t just help your diet but using a meal plan and a strict grocery list will REALLY help your budget too. Before you start, use up any ingredients you already have laying around the kitchen by thinking of recipes you can use them in. Then after that, you can start fresh and stay on top of your stock. I’m telling you if plan out what you eat and how you eat, you can cut out any poor eating habits.
Planning for Finances
When it comes to financial planning, remember that I have some amazing blog posts on this topic. My Ultimate Guide to Being On A Budget can walk you through each step of getting your finances in order, setting up a cash spending system, paying down debt, building up savings, and achieving your goals. My free financial spreadsheets can help you work on all of these things and my Facebook group Fixing Your Finances is a great source for advice and motivation.
Working on Your Inner Self
Now that everything around is in order, has good planning in place, and feels in control by you, you can really clear your head and focus on any inner work you want to do, whether it’s spiritually or just because. Want to spend more time in nature? Set a goal to take a nature walk every weekend, even in the cold months so you can appreciate the beauty in every season. Want to meditate? Get started! You now have a clean, happy home, and an organized schedule to make room for that kind of practice. Get a library card and start borrowing self help and other types of books. Immerse yourself in the magic of YOU. Create an altar, connect with like minded people, join monthly moon circles. Learn about the world.
These are the ways I put my life in order, and I do them each year, just to fine tune them. I hope this helps you!
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Thanks for these print ables.
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