Happy New Year!

The New Year means new goals, a new beginning, and a fresh start. My goal for 2024 is to help you each month with tips to make your life easier. Many New Year’s resolutions involve losing weight and getting organized. Let’s combine them. I can help you lose 10 pounds easily, by clearing out clutter!

 I’m kidding about the personal weight loss, but serious about shaping up your house. 

What if you took a little time each day to get moving while moving clutter out. It’s easy to get started. Make it a game for you or you and a family member. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Pick a spot that needs attention and start clearing things out. If you fill your days with enough of these quick pick-ups you’ll be feeling better and your house will sparkle.

Not sure where to start?  Here are five, 15-minute tasks you can take on today to make your home and life more organized. 

• Sort through your home’s junk drawer. Toss or donate anything you haven’t used in the past year.  This is a good task to take on with one of your kids. They can help you identify all of those power cords and chargers that might be lurking there. You can label your charging cords with a sharpie marker or piece of scotch tape.

• Clean out a small closet. Take out anything you haven’t worn in the last 2 seasons and donate it or visit your local resale shop and get a little money for it.

• Visit your basement and if it needs shaping up, choose the first area you want to work on. Set the timer for 15 minutes. If you need more time, come back to it once a day until you finish the job.  Or, set a day on your calendar within the next week to work on it for a few hours.

• Pick your messiest area in the home and spend time sorting and straightening things up. Recycle old papers, return library books, pass along magazines you’ve already read. 

• Spend time with your planner. Make a list of the jobs you’d like to tackle this year. Jot down the months you’d like to work on each project. 

Remember that January is a magical month where you can start fresh. In our industry, we call it GO Month (Get Organized Month). The goals you set now and the momentum you create can set the tone for your whole year.  Give yourself a few minutes to plan each day and you will save hours of frustration.  Have you ever come home with a container that you thought would be the perfect fit, but if you would have measured, then you would have realized that the container didn’t fit the space.

Remember, KISS – Keep it Simple Sweetie, people over-analyze their situations and get stuck.  Look at a room and break it down.  Remove items that don’t belong, grab another box for donations and a trash bag for garbage.  You can make this activity fun by playing your favorite upbeat song or invite a friend to help and then return the favor.

Scheduling time to organize is the only way it is going to happen.  Make your calendar your best friend.  It could be a Saturday that is set aside to work on a particular room or closet. Maybe you tell yourself you’ll just take one Saturday or Sunday a month to tackle an organizing project.

I would love to hear feedback so don’t be shy about sending me an email with your goals, ideas and how you are progressing.  Tell me how you spent your fifteen minutes organizing today!

I will be presenting at the Warren Public Library on Thursday, January 18, 2024 from 6:00pm - 7:00pm and the Sterling Heights Public Library on Thursday, February 1, 2024 from 6:00pm - 7:00pm.

Best wishes for an organized 2024!

Follow me on Instagram logical_placement or on my Facebook for weekly organizing tips.

Your local professional organizer,

Betty Huotari

P.S.  If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my list, have them send me an email.