I love Christmas, very much. But as I have eased my way (and by easing I mean been thrown wildly and wide-eyed) into busy motherhood, I have come to appreciate the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s Day even more.
It is the time when family has left or we’ve arrived home, work is slower, expectations moderated…a time when I can still enjoy my twinkling Christmas lights strung around the tree but also take some time to catch up and ready myself for a new year.
I personally don’t put a whole lot of stock in New Year’s Resolutions. I feel as though there is no reason to wait until January 1 to start working towards a goal and, in fact, as a group fitness instructor and former group exercise manager, I have seen way too many people set goals January 1 only to flame out by February 13.
But I DO like heading into a new year with a clean slate and a lighter mental load. There is something incredibly rewarding about facing January 1 feeling streamlined and more organized.
Using the dark winter days of quiet and solitude, I take care of lingering projects and household pile-up to go into a new year of life feeling prepared.
Here are some things I do to get myself ready for a successful year, how I begin the year with a fresh start:
Organize the year’s photos.
This is by far my most time intensive activity at the end of the year. But I strip all the photos from the year off of my phone and DSLR camera. I then organize everything into folders (year – month – date Description). If there are photos to be shared, I created Google Photo albums and then I upload some to our online family blog (private!). It takes awhile, yes, but our family photos mean everything to mean, and being able to access them, present them, share them and preserve them is a lifelong project and goal of mine.
I find the key to photo organization is to stay on top of it, otherwise it becomes too overwhelming.
Clean out my email inbox.
I am a big believer in Inbox Zero. I read it, then I answer it, file it, or delete it (or a combo). But nothing sits in my Inbox for “later.” (I’ve learned that later never comes.)
But I do have a lot of folders in my email program that get pretty packed with emails because of this system. And many of these are emails I don’t need anymore (from last academic year’s school teachers, for example). A little time spent cleaning out my email makes me more productive and notes far easier to find once the new year starts.
Delete old texts.
I just do it. While Mr. Family Trip watches some random bowl game, I spend time sitting next to him and swiping left, clearing out a lot of space on my phone. I save any photos sent via text that I may have missed, then delete the thread. Very few text threads are worthy of being saved for posterity (unless creative emoji use for the crazy neighbors counts), but getting rid of clutter and opening up space on my device feels rewarding.
Unsubscribe to junk emails and junk snail mail.
If you haven’t already started using Unroll.me please do it. NOW. Don’t wait. This is the best way I know to keep my inbox scrubbed and under control. Since I live and die by email these days (and those texts), having an inbox that doesn’t overwhelm in the morning saves a LOT of stress.
If you have a problem with junk snail mail, and most of us do, please consider spending $2.00 for eco-cycle’s program. While I do love receiving Pottery Barn catalogs, the amount of waste that is created so that credit card companies can try to hook me in is ridiculous. (If you want more tips on earth friendly habits for families, click here.)
Stopping the flow is easier than trying to swim out of the flood.
Organize computer files.
My “Downloads” folder on my computer is embarrassing. As is my computer desktop. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time I had to use a “search” on my ENTIRE COMPUTER to find a specific document I was looking for, I’d be taking the family out for steak tonight. I love sitting down at my computer at the start of the year and seeing things cleaned and organized (and ready for more downloads)!
Pay the bills, go through the junk pile, and file!
If your household is anything like ours, paperwork is a constant struggle. School papers and flyers, doctors’ mailings, bills that we haven’t yet or can’t automate, cards from friends, school pictures…it goes on and on. The stack on my kitchen desk, no matter how hard I attempt to install systems, piles up QUICK. But, usually, after an hour or two, all correspondence is returned, all papers are sorted, all permission slips are filled out (including one or two we may have missed in the hectic pre-holiday spree). I spend another hour filing everything where it goes, and, immediately, I feel more in control of my life.
Intentionally set goals.
Last year was my first year with (affiliate link) Powersheets, and this intentional goal planner has helped me so much. The prep work, digging into what is working, what isn’t, what the long term goals are that I want to see, and what I need to do to get there, has been so powerful. Powersheets can take days or hours, depending on what I need and what I want, but I can’t say enough how much it changes everything to go into the year understanding who I am, where I am, and what I want my life to look like.
As the new DECADE starts, I find taking time to get on top of the digital clutter, organize my family memories, file papers, and intentionally set goals for what I want 2020 to hold, helps me feel ready to conquer the new year (DECADE) with force and courage.