Welcome to 2020! I love starting out fresh with a new year. I am a list girl. I love having my day/week/year organized and ready for me. I love having meals organized and planned for the week. I love having a central location for all of our important papers, calendars and news. I love having tasks written down in my phone so I don’t forget important activities I have for the day. I love having a spot for every item in my home so clean up is quick. All of these simple thing help me stay organized. If you’re ready for a new year and to be a little more organized, here are 5 tips that will help you out.

1. Get a planner or use your phone calendar and enter important dates now. Important dates could include your kids’ no school days, extra curricular activities and birthdays. This is a great time to look at your year and see when you want to go on vacations. Which days would work best with school breaks and work breaks? Brainstorm about summer and get ideas of where reunions and other vacations will go. Organizing your calendar now will help your brain work less later on.
2. Use your smartphone’s task and reminder apps. I use these regularly and they are so helpful. Even late at night when I’m about to go to bed I’m thinking of tomorrow and the tasks that need to be done. Instead of holding those in your brain all night, write them into your task app! That will free some head space as well as organize your next day. The more you get in the habit of using these apps the more organized and less forgetful you can be. You can even set alarms for specific times you need to be somewhere.  Try it out.
3. Create a meal plan. We all have different family styles right now. You may be single or newly married. You may have 5 kids at home, or all of your kids are grown and gone. Whatever situation you are in, we all need to eat and we all need to organize our meals. Check out this post we wrote a while back, it’s packed with great information to help you organize your meal planning.
4. Get rid of excess stuff in your house. To start the year out right, now is a great time to go through each of your rooms and get rid of unnecessary toys, furniture, clothing and “stuff” that you have in your home. Get down to what you use and need. Just clearing out your home with help you get organized. It’s so much faster to clean when every item has a specific spot. I love following A Bowl Full of Lemons. Join her by doing the 2020 Home Organization Challenge. She has free printables for you. I’m doing it, you can too!
5. If you have children in the home, I would highly recommend making a Family Command Center.  Check out this post we did earlier with tips on how to make your very own. We have one in our home and it’s SO nice. All of the important papers are in view for me to see. It’s amazing. If you don’t have young kids at home, then I could still recommend having a spot where you keep all of your important papers, planner, and keys.