Welcome to the Plan-and-Organize-Life.com Newsletter. I hope you enjoy getting the newsletter and that it helps to keep you on track with your organizing goals. Remember, you can get a lot done in only 10 minutes of decluttering and organizing! Little bits add up over time.

Table of Contents

Introduction – The Urge to Declutter and Organize
Monthly Mission – Living room
What’s New on Plan-and-Organize-Life.com - Recent site additions
Keeping Track of Daily Activities - Calendars and To-Do Lists

Happy New Year! It’s a new year, a new decade and a fresh start with a brand new clean calendar. I just love a fresh calendar month!

Well, it’s that time of year again when I have an overwhelming urge to declutter. I think this is instigated by a few things.

• First, it’s a new year and a fresh start, so I want to clear things out, put things away and give a fresh start to my home as well as the new year.
• Secondly, after a month or more of holiday decorations there is a strong desire to reclaim my home space. I love the holiday decorations, but there comes a time when they start to get in the way.
• Third, I think the overabundance of toys and gifts with no homes is a definite issue that begs to be taken care of.

To read about the monthly mission for January, click here.

Here are some of the more recently added pages to the website you may have missed.

Organizing Your Bathroom - Suggestions to get your bathroom neatly organized.

Organizing Your Medicine Cabinet – How to make your medicine cabinet more functional and what to do with the items that don't fit.

Bathroom Organizing Products - Some helpful product ideas to keep your bathroom neat and organized.

Bathroom Drawer - Make-over - How to organize a bathroom drawer, an example with before and after photos.

Holiday Organizing and Planning - Helpful tips to get you organized for the holidays, including meal planning, gift shopping and checklists.

Yesterday I went out to buy my new weekly planner for the new year from the clearance pile at the store. It’s the same style I’ve used for years. I swear by my weekly planner to help me keep my life organized. It allows me to see my week at a glance and it’s also where I keep my to-do lists. To see how I use my weekly planner to keep my life organized, click here.

The other calendar I couldn’t live without is my family wall calendar. It tracks everyone’s school, work and extra activities in one place along with the daily dinner plan. It hangs in my kitchen where I look at it several times a day. The calendar I’m currently using is from Amy Knapp and I really love it. Lots of space for writing! Amy Knapp Big Grid Family Organizer 2010 Wall Calendar

I have to say, even though I got a nifty iPod Touch for Christmas and there are lots of applications available to keep my to-do lists organized, I have a feeling I’m going to stick with my paper versions above and leave the iPod to music and games. But we’ll see. Anything is possible.

Do you have a method to keep your life organized? How do you keep track of activities and appointments? How do you manage your to-do lists? If you don’t have a clear answer, take a little time to examine the ton of options out there. Paper or electronic, find something that is easy for you to use and maintain and be sure it’s easily accessible.

Read more about organizing your day.

Last month I talked about making a list of areas in your life or home that need better organization. Did you make a list or at least think about it?

After you get your holiday stuff put away, start thinking about that first area you want to organize. It doesn’t have to be large like an entire kitchen. It could be as simple as one drawer that drives you crazy, or your mail, or maybe your email inbox. You name it! Once you figure out an area to tackle go ahead and put it on your to-do list. Then you can gather some ideas on how to better organize that area. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions! Contact me here.

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and that all your goals and dreams come true, including getting better organized!

Until next time, happy organizing!

Sincerely,

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com

P.S. Sometimes links to website pages get broken. If a link doesn't work, you may need to copy and paste the entire link into your browser.