31 Days to an Organized Year

Every year starts the same. I put away Christmas decorations so I can start the new year with a clean slate. I get an itching for fresh and clean. I go buy a new candle that smells like a new year {but what does that even mean?!} and I get ruthless on my house. If I didn’t clean out toys and kids’ stuff before Christmas, I do it now. We decide on some things to say goodbye to and find neat and organized places to put the new things we got this Christmas.

It’s what my organizing dreams are made of: organizing perfection. But the reality is that January 1^st is a pretty short day. It is full of these organizing ambitions but in actuality, it goes by so quickly and by the end of the day I am still barely through the laundry let alone ALL of this organizing business I had the best intentions to do. Because come January 2^nd it is back to work and before we know it, back to school and if I haven’t gotten a handle on things by then, well it just won’t happen.

This year instead of expecting myself to get it all done in one day, I am going to do small tasks throughout the month of January to start the year off on an organized note. This way I can set myself up for success, with plenty of time to get it done, but also a deadline so that I still must get it done. Follow along with me if you are looking for a manageable way to declutter and get organized. Do all of these with me or pick and choose which ones you like.

31 Days to an Organized Year

January 1^st – Go through half of the rooms of your house and throw away everything extra that is laying around. Take a trash bag with you and throw away old receipts, tags, empty water bottles, old bottles of shampoo, empty soap dispensers, broken toys, etc.

January 2^nd – Go through the other half of the rooms and throw away anything extra in them.

January 3^rd – Walk through the house with a big bag to fill with donations. Pick items that you no longer use, don’t bring you joy, or just add clutter to your home.

January 4^th – Go through your closet. Pick out any items that you have not worn in the last six months. Reality: if you haven’t worn it lately, you aren’t going to even if you think you will. So get rid of it!

January 5^th – Go through your children’s closets/drawers. If they have anything they don’t wear or anything that has gotten too small, pull it out to donate or sell. 

January 6^th – Schedule a time for your donations to be picked up or take time on this day to go drop them off. We don’t do ourselves any favors if we gather it all up to donate but then let it clutter up another area of the house.

January 7^th – Rest day/catch up day. Take time today to relax and enjoy the day. Or use today to catch up on any organizing tasks you’ve missed so far.

January 8^th – Hit the kitchen! Give it a good cleaning and take time to go through your cabinets and drawers and pull out any cookware, tools, utensils that you have multiples of and/or don’t use.

January 9^th – Clean out the fridge. This one is not fun, but get everything old out of there and then wipe it down. Shelves, doors, drawers. It will feel good when it’s done.

January 10^th – Medicine cabinet. One of the easiest places to get out of control. Before you know it you’ve got six-year-old medicines that you didn’t even know you had. Find a place where you can drop old medicines. Some Walgreens offer take-back boxes and many police stations will take back medications and do event days where you can drop off.

January 11^th – Meal planning. List out your family’s favorite meals and make a rough outline of dinners for a month. Flexibility is good, but this will give some bones to the dinner prep routine.

January 12^th – Clean out your car. Get everything out of there. Hit the car wash and do a detail on the inside too. Make it bare bones and try to keep it clean by getting everything out each day when you get home.

January 13^th – Organize your phone. Get your apps organized into neat folders. Delete apps you don’t use. Delete old contacts. Choose a nice wallpaper for the background.

January 14^th – Rest day/catch up day. Take time today to relax and enjoy the day. Or use today to catch up on any organizing tasks you’ve missed so far.

January 15^th – Organize your laundry. Start doing a load of laundry a day from start to finish. This means getting out of the dryer, folding, and putting away that day. Apparently this makes it better.

January 16^th – Organize your photos. If you don’t have a good storage system in place, set one up today. Delete old photos or bad photos so they don’t take up space on your camera roll.

January 17^th – Start reading. Last year I started “reading” again and I love it! But about the only way I can actually “read” is by listening to books. Check out Audible or the local library for books you can download and listen to while you’re in the car, walking the dog, or cleaning house. Make a list of books you want to read this year.

January 18^th – Establish a consistent bedtime. The sleep experts say going to bed and waking up at the same times every day is very important. Set a bedtime alarm on your phone to let you know 30 minutes before it’s time to head to bed. Get in the habit of dropping what you’re doing and starting your bedtime routine then. Use the bedtime feature on the iPhone to help you out. It will make the mornings a whole lot easier too!

January 19^th – Organize your computer. Clean up the desktop. Delete all of those stickies. Delete all of those downloaded files you really don’t need. Then delete what you’ve deleted. Pick a new desktop background and you will feel really refreshed.

January 20^th – Back to the computer today to organize your inboxes. Clean that email out! Unsubscribe like crazy. Make sure you have replied to everything important and then delete your deleted mail.

January 21^st – Rest day/catch up day. Take time today to relax and enjoy the day. Or use today to catch up on any organizing tasks you’ve missed so far.

January 22^nd – Organize the notes app on your phone. Delete the hundreds stored in there and start a good system where you have a handful of key categories that you can add notes to (i.e. grocery, books to read, work, kids needs, etc.).

January 23^rd – Clean out your purse, work bag, or diaper bag. Get rid of all those random kid socks and pacis floating around and get it looking like the first day you bought it.

January 24^th – Plan a workout routine. What is a manageable and enjoyable way you can exercise in 2019? Walking, running, the gym, barre? Find out what works for you!

January 25^th – Clean out the garage. Take time to put things in their proper place, throw out random trash, and sweep out the garage.

January 26^th – Organize your entry area. Wherever it is that you come into the house, take some time to organize that area. Put shoes in a place that is easy to access, hang coats up, add a floor mat or rug to help keep the leaves and dirt by the door. Make it an inviting space.

January 27^th – Bathrooms day! Evaluate your bathrooms. Declutter if they need it. Add a new candle or some fresh small décor items to brighten up the space. Mostly, make sure countertops are clear and clean, and that a fresh towel is out for hand drying.

January 28^th – Rest day/catch up day. Take time today to relax and enjoy the day. Or use today to catch up on any organizing tasks you’ve missed so far.

January 29^th – Organize the bonus room. If you have a room where kids’ toys are stored, today is its day. Go through to get rid of toys that are missing parts and games with missing pieces. Clean up, donate, and get rid of. When that is done, evaluate how to put things away and reorganize it if necessary.

January 30^th – Ask your kids, “What is one area you would like to organize of your space?” It will be interesting to see what they say. For sure one of mine will say none. But take the time to teach them about the importance of living an organized life. Maybe they will be willing to tackle that backpack. 🙂

January 31^st – You did it! You made it through a month of organization. Today sit back and enjoy your feats. Or if you’re on a roll, keep going. Don’t let me stop you.

Click on the image below to get a pdf copy of the schedule. You can print it and put it on your fridge or somewhere you will see every day to remind you. 

Follow along as I journey through this month of organization. You can check out my progress on my Instastories. Find me @laurengmorgan and if you decide to do it, too, let me know — I want to see your progress!

Happy New Year and happy organizing!