It’s time to get organized, Auntie! January is Get Organized Month, and the New Year is a great time to clear out the old stuff.

To celebrate, I have a list of 31 tips, representing each day in January. However, you can use these tips throughout the year as needed. You can also use these tips to help your nieces and nephews organize their spaces as well.

Your Paper and Documents

1.    Magazines. Go through your magazine stack. Recycle the ones you’ve read or aren’t going to read.

2.    Catalogs. Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to clear out the vast pile of catalogs that arrived in the mail. Dump them into the recycling bin.

3.    Mail. Go through the stack of your old mail, toss the junk mail if you haven’t already and open up everything that looks like a bill or something important. If you need to take action, add it to your to-do list. Shred anything with an account number and scan in anything you need to keep.

4.    Bills. Capture your due dates for each of your bills on your digital calendar, set reminders if necessary, set up automated bill-paying for the ones you feel comfortable to do, and utilize on-line bill  paying tools. While you’re at it, take a look at some of the bills and call up the companies to see if you can get a lower rate or eliminate services you don’t use.

5.    Calendar. Avoid missing a birthday or anniversary by entering the dates on your email calendar. Then set your calendar entry to email you a few days ahead of time. You will look like a thoughtful genius.

6.    Essential Documents. Make copies of your Social Security card, birth certificate, marriage license, will, power of attorney, living will, and passport. You can store digital copies on your cloud storage. You should be able to access your essential documents quickly, and a family member or close friend should know where to find your information in case of an emergency.

Your Digital Life

7.    Photos. We take so many photos on our phones these days, and we are surrounded by more and more digital photos. Make sure they are uploaded to a cloud service so you won’t lose your photos if something happens to your phone. For example, my phone photos are automatically uploaded to Dropbox when I hit a wifi signal. Websites such as Flickr, Shutterfly and Snapfish lets you share and organize photos.

8.    Email. Tired of reading a blog or receiving sales ads from stores you don’t frequent any longer? Clean up your email by unsubscribing from them. Sort by name or size to do mass purging of your email.

9.    Social Media. You can delete boards on Pinterest that you no longer have an interest in. Unfollow Tweeters you don’t find value in. Create lists of your favorite tweeters so you can easily access the tweets you’re really interested in. On Facebook, unfollow or hide businesses or people you no longer want to see. Just unfollowing or hiding a few pages dramatically improved my ability to see my friends on Facebook.

10.    Laptop. Utilize the cloud to store your documents and photos, and make sure you have a computer back-up service and virus protection. Delete software you no longer use and clean up old files.

11.    Apps. Delete apps that you don’t use. It’s okay. If you change your mind later, you can reload them.

12.    Passwords. If you haven’t changed your passwords in a while, change them up. Make sure they are as strong as possible to slow down hackers.

Your Clothing and Accessories

13.    Shoes. Ditch the ones you no longer wear or are uncomfortable to wear. Polish the ones that need polishing and repair the ones that need refreshing.

14.    Underwear and Socks. Sort through your underwear and sock drawers and toss out the ones past their prime.

15.    Shirts, Pants, Skirts and Dresses. Divide your closet up into section and tackle each area. Go through each piece and put it aside if you don’t wear it, don’t like it, or it doesn’t fit. Yes, it may have been on sale, but if you’ve never worn it, it’s taking up valuable real estate in your closet and going to waste. Donate the items that are in good shape and toss anything that’s ripped beyond repair or stained. You can also sell items as well.

16.    Scarves, Belts, Handbags, and Jewelry. Accessory time! Divide up your accessories and tackle each section. Like with your other clothes and shoes, put aside the things that no longer fit your life. Donate the pieces in good pieces or sell them.

Your Home

17.    Pantry. Ditch the expired stuff and anything that has changed in appearance. If there are items that are still good but you don’t want to eat them, donate them to your local food pantry. Wipe down the shelves and put everything back so you can see what you have. If you want, you can put an inventory on the inside of the pantry door.

18.    Freezer. It can be scary, but pull everything out of the freezer. Ditch the stuff that is past its prime, wipe down the freezer, and put everything pack. It helps to organize things so you can see what you have. You can even put an inventory on the freezer door.

19.    Refrigerator. Pull everything out, toss the expired stuff, and wipe down the refrigerator shelves. If you want, you can create an inventory of what you have and post on the door, or you can keep a magnetic shopping list handy to write down things as you run out.

20.    Craft Projects.  We may have had great intentions to tackle a craft project or create an awesome scrapbook, but the craft is gathering dust. To quote Frozen, let it go. If it’s not going to happen, it’s okay.

21.    Medicine Cabinet. Ditch the expired drugs, and make a list of what you need to replenish. Don’t flush old drugs. You can turn them in at your local pharmacy, or put them in your trash by mixing them into food waste or coffee grounds.

22.    Cosmetics and Personal Care Items. Toss anything that has changed in color or texture or the stuff you no longer use or never used. Clean your make-up brushes with a little shampoo and let them dry on a towel. While you’re at it, dare to look underneath the bathroom sink and see what’s lurking down there.

23.    Shower. Take a peek in your shower and tub and toss anything that’s empty or just gross. If your metal shower caddy is rusty, it’s time to replace it. While you’re at it, toss the bathmats into the washing machine.

24.    Junk Drawer. We all have one. Clear everything out of the drawer, go through it, or toss out the stuff you no longer need.

25.    Collections. Actor Dennis Franzen and his wife once said on a decorating show, they collected items until the shelf was full, and then they stopped. For most of us, collections ooze beyond a single shelf. If you are no longer in love with your collection, reduce the size to your favorite pieces and sell or donate the rest. If you still love your collection but want to reduce the footprint it takes up in your home, rotate pieces each season so it’s always fresh for you.

26.    Books, DVDs, CDs and Videogames. If you’re not going to watch it, play it or read it again, it’s okay to purge your collection. Some money can be had in clearing out your bookshelves. You can see items on Amazon, eBay, Facebook trading sites, half-price book stores, or Decluttr (CDs, DVDs and games only).

27.    Stuff You Need to Repair. It could be a missing button on a jacket, your favorite shoes that need new soles or cracked screen on your smartphone. Gather up the stuff that needs repaired and decide if a) you really want to fix it, b) can you fix it yourself, or c) who else can repair it. Then make it happen. If you don’t want to both, then ditch it.

Your Mind

28.    Goals. The new year is a great time of year to re-evaluate and set new goals. You can do this by creating a vision board or brainstorming what you want to accomplish. If old goals no longer serve you, give yourself permission to let those go and focus on the new ones.

29.    To-do List. To take action on your goals, add items to your to-do list that help you propel your goal forward. While you’re at it, take a look at your current to-do list and eliminate the tasks that no longer serve you. 

30.    Relationships. Toxic and negative people are a real drain on your best resource – you. It’s not always easy, but eliminating those kinds of relationships whenever possible will improve your mood and your mental space.

31.    Your Mind.  Take care of yourself by getting more sleep and moving more. Meditation is a great tool you can use to give yourself the time and space to stop and regain your focus.

Photo: John Schultz
Published: January 4, 2015