Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Did you know?
-Monthly Mission – Living Room
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-New Years Resolutions vs. To Do Lists

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to 2015! Yet another year flew by. Our December was super busy and a little crazy and now our house shows for it. Not only was there the regular holiday bustle, but I had to travel once for a few days by myself at the beginning of the month, and then again with the family for a short vacation right after Christmas Day. We ran out the door leaving our gifts and paper on the floor. Also, this is the longest we’ve ever kept our tree and decorations up. Today is the day, however, we are going to reclaim our living space. It’ll be a good start to the new year of organizing.

Click the logo above to learn more!

Did you know…

In the United States, it is estimated that $2.6 billion is spent on wrapping paper each year.

And now it’s on my living room floor waiting to be scooped up and recycled!

It’s time to get back on track and tackle some of our organizing goals. Let’s start with working on our living room, where we spend a great deal of time relaxing and maybe reading or watching TV. To read more about January’s monthly mission, click here.

If you’re in a hurry to put some order back into your home, perhaps Mimi Tanner's unique method will give you that jumpstart. Check out her method at Declutter Fast: How To Get Your Home In Order Almost Immediately.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

Home Filing System - Keep all your paperwork in order so you can find what you need at a moments notice, and learn what to keep and what to toss.

Declutter Home and Life - Getting organized involves a lot more than just tossing some extra possessions. Read more about organizing beyond just your home.

Travel Planning Tips - Are you planning a trip in the near future? Here are some tips to make your planning and packing go a lot smoother.

To Do Lists Library - Got all your to do lists together? Here is a little help.

Organize Recipes - Read up on how to organize your recipes so you can access them more easily.

Time Savers - To help streamline your life, here are some daily time savers.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really do New Year resolutions. They always seem so daunting… eat better, exercise more, lose weight, etc.

I suppose they work for some people, but I am more of a list person. I find it more satisfactory to make a New Year To Do List of smaller things I’d like to accomplish. Just as with my daily to do list, I can cross things off along the way and see my progress early in the year.

Let’s say… I want to read more this year… or even say, I want to read 25 books this year, as a resolution. If I instead list all the books I want to read, once I finish the first book, I already get to cross it off my list, probably in the first week or two of the year! I will be able to see my progress and accomplishments as they happen and keep me inspired along the way. Plus, it’s a reminder to me of what I want to do/read next to help me from getting side tracked. Waiting until the end of the year to see if I accomplished my goal is not very motivational.

I make my list by writing down things I see around my house as I’m going about my regular day. For example, I see that my kitchen cabinets need to be wiped down, that the fountain outside needs to be cleaned, my desk needs to be straightened up and the holiday decorations need to be put away!

Yes, my list is full of stuff that needs to be cleaned, put away, etc. Those are all kind of boring, but they do contribute to a cleaner more relaxed and organized home, and a feeling of accomplishment along the way.

I also like to put fun things on my list. I have a list of books I’d like to finish, blogs I’d like to catch up on, or a class I’d like to take. OK, my husband would say that isn’t fun stuff either, so let’s add things like, I want to go horseback riding, take a trip down to the aquarium, take a trip to Hawaii. Will I definitely accomplish all of these in 2015? Maybe, maybe not, but if they’re not even on my radar (or my list) I’m not even going to remember to focus on them.

So, let’s make a resolution to make a master to do list for 2015. You can add things at any time. They can be chores, projects, things you’d like to try, or fun things you’d like to do. As we cross those things off our lists we will feel more accomplished and maybe even have a great memory and a smile to go along with it.


Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com