How to Organize Your Life and Home for the New Year
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Do you start the new year feeling fresh, energized, and optimistic ready to tackle your goals and all of the things you didn’t accomplish last year?
I certainly do. Well, I typically do. This year may be the first and only year I haven’t, but I digress. I typically feel enthusiastic to start the new year with ambition and confidence, ready to get everything into order that may have fallen by the wayside as the last year drew on.
I am taking up some organizing and cleaning a bit earlier than spring this year because we have been working on selling our home and clearing out the things we realize we no longer need.
Organizing is something that excites me! I realize not everyone feels that way, but for my personality being a type A planner plus my career path I have fallen in love with organization and planning. Even typing these words gets me excited! I was totally the kid who was excited for the school year to start and to have all of my new pens and pencils, fresh paper and new spiral notebooks, new binders, and a new backpack. I LOVED SCHOOL.
With all of that in mind, I thought I’d share some tips and products I’ve purchased recently that have helped me get organized around my home/home office and in life.
1) This purse organizer
I’ve had one for years that my mom gave me, but it had finally seen some wear and tear. This one is perfect with its compartments and fits right into my large tote purse. If you use a purse that has one large opening and want some organization in it, this is your answer. Make sure to take measurements before you choose the size. The organizer comes in five colors and three sizes.
2) This makeup organizer
I’m not big into makeup so I know I probably have 1/3 the amount most ladies have, but I love having it organized. I have been using this copper and glass makeup organizer I found at Target years ago but have outgrown it. While it’s beautiful, I find I need more space. I adore these acrylic ones because they’re inexpensive enough that if and when you outgrow them you’re not heartbroken to spend more money, they’re chic and clear so look good on every counter top, and there are a bunch of options to meet your personal needs!
3) Closet tips and tricks
We made the long overdue switch to velvet hangers this past year and it added more space to our closet as well as a refined, synchronized look. I ordered them in sets of 100 for $44 on Amazon.
Aside from that what I suggest for your closet may not make sense for everyone but it was my go-to organization tactic. I organized my clothes by sections and sub-sections, some by color after sleeve length and some by when I wore it.
Dresses - split between work dresses, then casual dresses, then formal dresses. My work dresses I rotated from front to back based on when I wore them so that I always knew how recently it was worn. My casual and formal dresses were organized by colors.
Tops - split between blouses, then casual sleeveless/short sleeve/long sleeve tops. I rotated blouses from front to back based on when I wore them so that I always knew how recently it was worn. My casual sleeveless/short sleeve/long sleeve tops where in their own groupings and organized by colors.
Skirts - organized by work or play, and by colors. A black work skirt is a black work skirt - most not identifiable in any way so I didn’t have to worry about front to back based on when I wore them.
Slacks - organized by work or play, and by colors. Most not identifiable enough so I didn’t have to worry about front to back based on when I wore them.
I currently put my work out clothes, jeans, and pajamas in drawers or bins.
How do you organize your closet?? Please tell me in comments below!! I’m always curious on ways to improve.
I have been drooling over these clear shoe boxes from the container store for some time, but I just can’t justify the price. However, they look so nice and organized that if you can splurge I think it will really refine and tidy up your closet.
I have kept almost all of my shoes in their shoeboxes through the years so that I have them in a tidy box and then I group them by brand and then by style. It helps me every morning to figure out quicker which shoes I want to wear and remember what I have. However, I have wondered if having a clear box to see them would be even more helpful…🤔 I keep the shoebox labels with descriptions facing me so I can see color and style as well.
I found these clear, stackable shoe boxes on Amazon that give you twice the shoe box count for almost the same price so I may try these if and when we move.
5) A label maker
I don’t even know where to begin other than this is kind of where you begin in organizing.
We have every light switch in the house labeled. I label jars and containers for various things like: Loretta’s food, Lorenzo & Luigi’s food, almond flour, coconut flour, regular gluten flour, sugar, coconut sugar, chia & flax, cereals, and on and on.
I just saw this pocket sized label maker and I am now keeping it in my cart until I can justify having it for if and when we move. What is this cute little thing??
Oh my dreams. I have not executed this fantasy merely because I didn’t want the mess of switching out spices into new jars and then we decided we may move. May* - to be determined. So now, I must wait to see what type of pantry could be in my future, but isn’t this a thing of beauty?
There are a ton of options for quantities and sizes so don’t feel overwhelmed. You can find the perfect fit and then not have the odd sized containers that get lost and hidden behind bigger, more frequently used containers and then you buy duplicates unknowingly… Can you relate?
I admit I likely haven’t needed this as much as a true parent would, but look at how easy it would be to keep things separate and organized if you needed to!?!
From groceries, to after school activities, to items you need to return or mail to customers…
I have and love trunk nets for my SUV because it keeps things from flying out of bags as well as falling out of my trunk when I open it. Make sure to read the description to make sure it will fit your specific SUV type, but I promise you will not regret having this (says the lady who has lost bottles of wine after it rolled out of my trunk!).
This may seem silly, but I emphatically love using different colored pens. My favorite pens are the G2 Pilot .07 pens. I am not a fan of the .10 nor the .05 mm. The .07 is perfect for my writing, it’s retractable, and it lasts a long time.
The reason I love using different ink colors each day is for organization! I’m not even sure how I began doing this unknowingly but somewhere along the way over a decade ago I started using a different colored pen each day - even if it was just blue or black. What I began to notice was that each day I marked off an accomplished task in whatever color I was using that day, I would know which day I accomplished the task as well as which day the original task was written down to do.
Hear me out…
On Monday, I will write my work to-do’s in red. As I accomplish them on Monday I mark them off in red. On Tuesday I will write my work to-do’s in green. As I accomplish them on Tuesday I mark them off in green and if I accomplish Monday’s task on Tuesday, it gets marked off in green.
On Wednesday, I will write my work to-do’s in blue. As I accomplish them on Wednesday I mark them off in blue and if I accomplish Monday or Tuesday’s tasks on Wednesday it gets marked off in blue.
So essentially I can look back at the previous 7+ days and see when the request was made, and when I actually accomplished it.
In addition to this, I make notes as I follow up as the days pass so I know what I did on what day as follow up. E for email in orange? I emailed them on Thursday. VM for voicemail in purple? I left a voicemail the next Monday after the original request. Marked off in pink? I finished last Monday’s request on the following Tuesday. This may be hard to follow in my writing but give it a try and it WILL help you stay organized with your work, I promise.
9) A daily/weekly/monthly calendar
I have tried and tried to relied solely on my phone calendar and notes, but it just doesn’t cut it for me. I need to write things out (in different colors) on my calendar, highlight some stuff, and cross things off.
Writing something down helps your brain remember it - whether its a birthday, an appointment, or a trip. Same thing goes with phone numbers and mailing addresses. We used to have to remember these things and now we plug them into our phones or computers and couldn’t recite one if we tried in an emergency situation.
Any friends or family of mine will tell you I often say, let me double check with my calendar when I get home because I know what I plug into my phone doesn’t always sync up with what I have written on my calendar. I got mine from Target, but you can find a ton of options for them on Amazon, etc.
What I have been doing for years in my calendar entries is:
All birthdays I write in PINK ink and then highlight in pink. I copy them from the previous year's calendar to the new calendar and I swear this is how I remember people’s birthdays without social media reminding me. I write it down!
All appointments I write in DARK BLUE or BLACK ink, and highlight in yellow if it is really important. So something like my hair or lash appointment will not be highlighted, but a doctor’s appointment will be highlighted in yellow. If it pertains to my 94 year old great aunt I tend to highlight in orange so it stands apart on my calendar.
All exercise is written in GREEN ink! Then I can easily spot when I exercised and what I did.
Travel dates are written in BLUE ink with an arrow across the dates highlighted with a light BLUE highlighter. Then I can easily see if and when I’m traveling.
*I used similar color coding techniques on my boss’s calendar when I was working to designate if it was a board meeting, car, flight, hotel, travel, etc.
10) Print a weekly dinner calendar
I have never been a 3x a day meal planner, but I do like to make a dinner calendar for the week. This helps me figure out what I think I may cook, what I need to buy for the meal (if anything), and mark off the days I know or hope we will eat out. s
What are your favorite ways to get organized? Do you have any tips and tricks to share? Comment below!
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XOXO
