It's 2023! Are you ready?
Do you realize we are now as far away from 1980 as 1980 is from 1937?
This is your life! Let’s get on it, folks!
Here are 5 things you can do to set yourself up for a satisfying and accomplished new year that goes by fast and goes by better.
Tip #1 - Merge holiday gifts into what you already own
Gather and sort all the gifts, toys, and stocking stuffers you received over the holidays.
Friends, family, even employers can be generous, and that is a wonderful thing, but that generosity can have unintended consequences. Incorporating all those things into your existing belongings can be overwhelming and make you feel crowded.
Start by ensuring that what you keep are things you really want. Not everything you receive serves a purpose in your life. Some of the things served their purpose by bringing joy to the giver. Do not feel obligated to hold on to everything people give you.
That said, a landfill is not the best place to keep things either. Find some donation locations in your local area, or re-gift items that do not serve you or your household.
If you need help locating donation centers, let me know. This is a passion of mine.
Tip #2 - Purge some of what you already own
Do not just add your new things to the pile. You may have received some newer versions of things you already have; reduce the pile while incorporating some of the new.
Use this opportunity to eliminate some number of items you already have. If you have 25 shirts, see if you can get it down to 20. If you have 15 vases, see if you can get it down to 12. If your kids have countless toys, donate the ones they might have outgrown or that they simply don’t play with anymore.
The 80/20 Rule applies to all things: your wardrobe, general belongings, toys. People use only routinely use about 20% of the things they own.
This is a great step to do now but is also a great one to do throughout the year. Every time you get a new one of something, get rid of one. This is the One-In-One-Out Rule.
Tip #3 - Reorganize your holiday decor when you put it away
As you break down and put away your seasonal décor, take the time to sort through it holistically and get rid of things you might not love so much.
There can be a lot of sentimentality to holiday decorations, but it is also a category that easily can expand beyond the number of totes and boxes you can reasonably store in your closet or attic.
This can be a painful category to reduce because your home can become the repository of all the family keepsakes and you feel obligated to hold on to them all.
But I would like to gently suggest that your departed loved ones might prefer you keep only those items you truly treasure and then treat those with respect and reverence rather than losing them in an ocean of artwork and broken ornaments from your childhood tree.
But I understand. It can be painful. If you are struggling with that, reach out to me and we can talk it through.
A bonus of this process is that it sets you up for easy decorating next year – and the endorphin rush of discovering that you were so very smart and effective this year!
Tip #4 - Aim to complete 3 Big Tasks Per Day
Michael Hyatt of Full Focus calls these your “Daily Big 3” and it works.
Your Daily Big 3 are the top three outcomes you need to accomplish that day to make progress on your weekly or longer-term goals. If you lose sight of them, your day can get swamped by things that feel urgent to someone else (and even you at the time!) but are not necessarily important.
You’ll never accomplish what really matters that way.
Many of us start our days with a lengthy To Do list. It’s not uncommon for people to have 15 or 20 things they want to accomplish in a day, and when they don’t get them done those same things roll over to the next day, or week, or just languish on the list developing your feelings of guilt or failure. This is no way to live.
Listing only three tasks for an entire workday may seem like a cop-out, but it requires more effort and discipline to look at the twelve things you could do and zero in on the three things you really need to do because they really matter.
With this newfound clarity on what is and isn’t a real priority, your days will no longer be held captive by an unreasonably long list of tasks.
So this year, try picking your 3 most important tasks each day and do those first. Let yourself focus on what really deserves priority.
"A good system shortens the road to the goal." - Orison Swett Marden
Tip #5 - Aim for progress, not perfection.
Finally, remember that progress is always better than perfection.
Being a recovering perfectionist myself, I can tell you that letting go of the pressure to keep things just the way I want them has led to so much more richness and color in my life and much better productivity!
Perfect is the enemy of the good and it can lead to stopping you from doing anything at all – which is worse!
Here's to a great new year!
2023 is going to go by quickly! It will happen fast. So give it a good start and keep up some good habits.
So like I said before, this is your life. Get to it!
When you're ready to tackle your tough organization project, I am here to help you learn how.
Let's RETHINK organization together.
For more information, visit the RETHINK website today.
Mandy Thomas is a professional organizer fulfilling her lifelong passion for creating order out of chaos. She finds joy in helping people tackle their most overwhelming spaces and collections to create the optimal living space and enjoy their homes.
RETHINK organization is on a mission to help you develop long-term patterns of organization that you can maintain and feel good about long after our work together is done.
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