I know 2020 has been rough for so many people. I think we are all hopeful and maybe even optimistic that 2021 has to be better.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions – they seem gimmicky and lose steam within weeks for most people.

But I think the start of a new year can be a great time to start strong and set the pace for a successful year.

I shared a photo yesterday on IG of my usual end-of-year task. I always end the year with clearing out my monthly due bills folder, prepping my monthly overview pages and organizing and filing the year’s documents. Twelve folders, actually thirteen including my 2020 Taxes folder, are prepped and ready to go. No monthly scramble to get organized, no misplaced paperwork. You can read a more detailed description of my Due Bills system here.

My goal for January is to tackle one task each day that will set the pace for the new year, that will help my family’s year be successful.

The tasks will cover administrative items, household items, sustainable living goals, and some cooking/healthy eating goals.

Here is what I have planned for the next several days:

January 1:  Laundry

We are a family of six, and so laundry piles up. I can stay on top of the washing, but the sorting and putting away part is where my laundry system (or lack of one…) breaks down. Additionally, with four growing kids I am overdue for a clothing purge.

My goal for today is to wash any dirty laundry, get all the clean laundry folded and put away, and while I work, sort clothing for either the trash bin or the donate bag.

January 2: Garage

My garage contains several zones, and it’s not unusual for one or more to get cluttered. My husband and I both have our own workbenches, we have our recycling sorting bins, food storage, and bikes. I plan to get each zone cleaned and organized. I’m tired of tripping over bikes, and I need to have my bench ready for seed trays soon.

January 3: My desk and admin area

I’m the administrator, and so my desk houses planners, file folders, office supplies, computer/printer, incoming mail, etc. In addition, I’m an avid reader and I keep my current reads at my desk as well. It gets out of hand pretty regularly, so it needs a good organizing and cleaning.

January 4: Back-to-school prep

The holiday break ends mid-week, and I want to give backpacks and lunch bags a deep clean. School items need to be rounded up and organized, and my snack bin replenished.

January 5: Outside cleanup

We spend a lot of time outside, and unfortunately it gets cluttered. Kids’ toys, gardening tools and planter pots, bins for animal feed, etc. I’ll be putting plants in the ground in February so I want to get my property tidied and ready for Spring.

January 6: Carpets

I hate carpets with every ounce of my being, but our house is wall-to-wall carpet, and redoing floors is a time-consuming and tedious process. While we do have some floor projects planned for the year, I can’t escape carpet care any time soon. With the kids back at school, I will be able to tackle vacuuming all the rooms and start shampooing. Realistically, the shampooing will go over several days, but the vacuuming and deep-clean prep will be done this day.

January 7: Living Room

We have counters and cabinets/drawers in our living room, and they get cluttered so fast. The drawers and cabinets start out organized but devolve into out-of-sight zones with some regularity. I want to go through and purge so my cabinets can be useful again. For example, I have a cabinet filled with craft items and I HATE crafts. I plan on a No mercy/No quarter approach to this particular decluttering project.

Check back in a week to see how my first seven days have gone, and what I have planned for the next week.