Get More Organized in 2014

I don’t know about you but when a new year rolls around I often feel like I need to purge, almost how I felt when I had that pregnancy nesting stage. I’ve felt that way the last few weeks and now that it’s 2014, it’s time to stop thinking about what I want to do and really kick it into gear.

If you feel that way too, maybe these suggestions will help you and your family get organized so you can begin the new year fresh. It’s always great to start out with a clean slate, and by decluttering your surroundings, you’re also making room for creative ideas, fun adventures and new family experiences!

ELECTRONIC DECLUTTER
One of the very first things I suggest is an ‘electronic declutter.’ Clean out all those emails that you thought you’d get to over the year. If it’s been sitting in your inbox for 6-9 months and you haven’t needed to look at it, toss that email into your recycle bin. Any others that you might think are semi-important but can’t seem to throw out, make a 2013 folder and put them in there. You can toss them later.

I also create new folders for the year. This way, any new documents I create will be saved somewhere in 2014. I sub-label folders within 2014 according to topic: Family, Money, Vacation, Work, Misc… you get the idea. There is a place for everything.

Take some time to delete those photos from your phone that you don’t need. You know the ones - those that you have 8 duplicates of the same pose. Get rid of them - they are taking up much needed storage space on your phone.

Back up ALL of your documents from 2013 onto an external hard drive. You don’t want to lose this information. Take time now to go through these documents and if there are any that you absolutely DON’T need, throw them out.

KITCHEN DECLUTTER
This one is where I should start first, because it would probably be the easiest. Start by opening your fridge and tossing old salad dressings. You know you’ve got at least two or three that are OLD. What else is in there that you can get rid of? Check way in the back. Moldy cheese? Dried up fruit?

Once you clear out the old items you haven’t used in the last 3 - 6 months in your fridge, move to the pantry and the cabinets. You’ll feel so good after getting rid of products that have expired that you didn’t even know you had. And then, just go ahead and straighten up that Tupperware cabinet. That task seriously takes about five minutes but it’s LIFE-CHANGING to see those cute little storage bins lined up neatly when you’re done. Even if you get nothing else done in the kitchen, these two tasks will make you feel productive, and I’ll bet that by getting started, you’ll be motivated to move on to more cabinets!

CLOSETS & DRAWER ORGANIZATION
This is where you’ll want to enlist the kids. You’re fresh off the holidays so no doubt their rooms are a bit messy. Remind them of the nice gifts they received and explain to them how some families aren’t so lucky. Then tell them to go through their closets and drawers and find all the clothes they’ve outgrown and all of the toys they no longer play with and to put them in a pile because you’re going to donate them. If they don’t jump in to offer their help immediately, the next option is to use some bribery. Suggest maybe that if they help out, you’ll take them to a movie, or maybe they’ll get more time on the computer (playing on FPgirl.com!).

It’s definitely hard to get into the mindset of organizing and decluttering but once you get your house into shape, everything else starts to fall into place. To declutter your visual surroundings, you’ll be able to declutter your internal surroundings. You’ll find the inner calmness to bring in a beautiful 2014, and don’t you want that for you and your family?

About the Author:

Stephanie Elliot, in no particular order, is a wife, writer, blogger, book reviewer, editor and mother to three kids, two who have already been tweens, and one who is right smack in the middle of his tween-ness. Her oldest son is almost driving and her daughter survived her tween years so Stephanie must be doing something right. Find out more at http://stephanieelliot.com