If you are anything like me then you are sliding into 2021 like a marathoner crossing the finish line - big open arms, exhausted yet delighted to be there, and a sense of pride because YOU MADE IT! And I want to be the first to say, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I think we have all spent more time at home than we EVER thought we would and that means using our spaces a bit differently. I know for us, the “playroom” area in our current home has fully become Ty’s office - which means all toy clutter is in our living room (yikes!). We cook WAY MORE than we ever did before and our cars hardly move. It made me realize that there is no way I am alone in this new Tetris of working, schooling, and living at home full time, so I thought I’d put together 21 ways I’m getting my life together in the form of organization in 2021. I promise these are all simple ideas and will make your year feel off to a great start!

Organize Core Areas: Kitchen/Bathroom/Closet/Garage

When 2020 Quarantine Kicked off (and The Home Edit came out with their show on organizing) it seems like most EVERYONE took the opportunity to start organizing their homes. Did you? I know I jumped on the bandwagon when I couldn’t organize in-home anymore and organized our pantry, kitchen, both master clothing closets, the toy closet, the nursery and Tommy’s toddler room (PHEW!). 

For 2021, I want to take a slimmed down approach. I’m committing to a quarterly refresh of one of the core (aka most lived in) areas of our home like the kitchen, our bathroom, my closet or our garage basement area. This way it stays manageable and I can hopefully juggle amongst a newborn, toddler and everyone at home. Maybe you can tackle the area that is shouting the loudest? I know it will make you feel so much better and love your home EVEN MORE.

Just Finish It 

This is a tip recommended to me and I LOVE IT! Its that little voice in the back of your head when you want to leave the groceries on the counter (just finish it), the clothes on the floor (just finish it), the coat over the chair (just finish it). Just put the groceries away, just put the clean laundry in the drawer, just hang the coat in the closet. Committing to the small step of putting your clothes back on the hanger after wearing or trying them on goes a long way when it comes to keeping out the clutter.

Empty your Inbox 

Can you imagine having your inbox at zero? Or even under 50 messages?  I have a great tutorial on doing this that makes it bite-size and easy to tackle. And it feels so good to NOT have that big ole number blinking at you every time you open your email. Watch below: https://youtu.be/9v8TwzrSsEo

Donate box

This is so simple but has made a huge difference in keeping clutter under control at our house. All you do is put a box labeled “donate” at the bottom of each closet and when its time to retire that shirt, that outgrown toy or you notice you have 4 spatulas and only need one - just toss it in there. When the box is full, schedule a pick up (this is my favorite service) or take it to your local donation center. 

Take things out of packaging 

You know when you get that jumbo pack of toilet paper or paper towels? Instead of leaving the plastic on the remaining rolls, take them out right away and get rid of the packaging. It will allow you to see what you have, save space and decrease visual clutter. Plus, its one less thing to do later on.

Address mail/paper WHEN IT COMES IN

Do y’all ever feel like paper piles just grow overnight? Mail is the biggest enemy of taming the paper so making a commitment to checking your mail when you are ready to deal with it can do a whole lot when it comes to staying organized. I’m not a fan of handling mail multiple times - check your mail, address it and be done. Also, here is my guide to taming the paper if you don’t know what to keep and what to let go of.

Establish a drop zone

Does anyone else have an entryway in their home that feels like it is constantly messy? Anywhere there is a door to bring things in and out of the house (garage, front door, side door, basement) can be a potential spot for stuff to pile. Identify your trouble spots and create a simple drop zone to corral loose items. Here I show you how to do it with only three items (and you probably already have them around the house!): https://youtu.be/ss9H9wZ0L_k

Create an age-appropriate chore chart

With Tommy about to cross the two year old finish line, I thought it miiiight be time for me to establish some daily chores for him. Nothing too fancy or complex, just a few things that he can be responsible for each day. This is all new to me so I am totally open to your suggestions and will definitely share where I land along the way. I like this chart because it can be completely custom and this one because Tommy can actually put the magnet on as he accomplishes a task. Here are a few examples I think might be good for his age: put pillow on bed, feed dog with help from mommy or daddy, put clothes in laundry basket, put toys and books in baskets before bed. 

Simplify duplicates

Ever notice you have like 14 spatulas and one slotted spoon? Or 400 pens? Or 6 pair of scissors? Next time you come across duplicates ask yourself how many you really need. If in good condition, put the duplicates you don’t need in your donate box. 

Create a list of 21 meals

THIS is some of the best advice I have been given - seriously y’all - it makes meal planning SO much easier and it takes 5 minutes to do it. Sit down with a pen and paper (or your phone) and write out the most 21 common make-at-home meals you and your family enjoy. My list is super simple - everything from spaghetti and TX toast to steak and potatoes to crockpot chili. 

Make a Recipe Binder

Using the list of 21 meals is a great base for this. I have found it really helpful when I am out of commission too! Like you can actually be sick and people can still SOMEHOW manage to figure out what to eat! As a base I would collect those 21 recipes from your list and let those establish your binder. From there, you can add recipes you like. Eventually you will have a binder full of meals you enjoy! Psst - its also how I meal plan in 5 minutes each week! Find everything you need to make this binder here.

Group daily items together 

Nothing throws me off more than waking up early to have some intentional time and not being able to find a pen or my journal, or the book I am reading. Instead of starting the day refreshed, I am stressed and annoyed that I spent the entire time looking for stuff. For me, grouping my daily items means my quiet time gear, my smoothie materials and my workout gear. I promise grouping these daily items together will make life so much better!

Simplify your shopping routine - Shipt

What if you could save 8 hours per month? OMG sign me up! When I heard this stat I knew I had to have Shipt. Especially in COVID times, it makes shopping so much safer and easier. I literally do not know what I would have done without this app this year.

Pick a paper planner

ICYMI I put together a very extensive paper planner round up for 2021. Although most of my life is digital these days, I still love crossing things off a to-do list and visually seeing what’s going on for the week ahead. It really helps me weigh our schedule (too much, just right, - is there ever too little?). What about y’all, have you picked a planner for 2021?

Make time to tidy 

I know this may sound super obvious but planning for two minutes at the end of your makeup routine to put away your stuff can go a long way to enjoying a clutter-free home. Same goes for playtime and putting away kids toys or even putting a blanket back in the basket after you watch TV.

Put your dishes in the dishwasher

This is similar to just finishing it but I think it goes a long way when it comes to your mornings. Waking up to a sink of dirty dishes is so defeating to me. Like I feel behind before the day has started. Do you ever feel like that?

Time your tasks

Okay, I haven’t done this outside of the work setting but I am eager to try it at home. Basically, you take a task that “feels” like it takes forever or even one that you really dislike (like emptying the dishwasher, putting your clothes away or taking out the trash) and your time yourself. Usually when you find out it only took 4 minutes to empty the dishwasher your perspective shifts and that ugly task doesn’t seem so bad after all.  

Designate a Desk Space

No matter what type of work you do (boss lady, WAHM, SAHM, working mama), I’m guessing 2020 changed that a bit. When I worked from home in 2018, I would migrate from the sofa, to the kitchen bar, to the dining table and to my desk. All that wandering isn’t a bad thing and I do think it helps to change it up BUT having a dedicated landing spot for my things really helped me get stuff done when I needed to. Even now as a SAHM, having my desk (albeit tucked in the corner of our hallway) creates a spot for me to sit down, get the task done, and get on with life. What about you? Do you have a designated desk space in your house?

Ask for help

Confession: I am terrible at this! But the older I get and the more kids I have (hah!) the more I realize that I literally cannot do it all. I want to be the one to do all the laundry, clean the house, cook wonderful dinners, and still engage fully with my boys while keeping my body in shape and my marriage intact… but sometimes that just isn’t possible and I need to delegate something. I know at the end of my pregnancy this year having a cleaning service biweekly has been so helpful. But even more helpful for me has been just admitting that I do need help. Do you ever feel this way?

Unsubscribe

I don’t know about y’all but especially after the holidays where I am trying to nab all the deals on all the things, I have subscribed to a LOT of email lists that I probably don’t actually need to be on. In an effort to reduce email clutter, I love to use the gmail feature that divides my inbox into primary, social and promotions and I like their suggestions to unsubscribe even more. This year, I’m trying to take a few minutes each time I’m checking my email to unsubscribe to a few places and hopefully reduce the overall input into my inbox. (Plus I just deleted 9,000+ promo emails in a single click - Now, THAT felt good!)

Establish a toy rotation

How is it that right after the holidays the new-ness of toys has already worn off? In my mind, these “new” toys have at least a 6 month expiration mark but in Tommy’s mind he needs a new challenge. We started doing toy rotation a few months ago and it has definitely extended the life of our toys. I have been trying to rotate every two weeks but now that we have a little more depth to our toys, I think once a month may work. I will be adding his new toys into the mix this year and hoping it will make getting to naptime each day a little easier (fingers crossed!). 

I am pretty amped about this list and can’t wait to share follow-up posts about how I am tackling each one. What about you? Are you excited about any of these?