Welcome to the new year! Are you ready and excited to take on this year or is facing another year making you panic? I love taking the last few weeks of December and the first few weeks of January for looking back and looking forward. This is also the time where I setup my planner, my goals for the year, and start organizing. Are you not the organized type person? Well, as the new Marie Kondo trend can show you everyone can do it, one step at a time. I will also say sometimes it helps to find free helpers.
The first place I start organizing myself with my planner. My family uses two planners, I use a paper one and my husband prefers an online one. This year I am trying out a free planner from a local blogger, The Handmaid Home, for my paper planner. They provide printable for both an A4 and A5 style you can then send it to be made into a book or do it yourself.
Our online planner is called Cozi. We use the web-based and app version for free. There is some benefit to paying for the service, such as additional reminders and birthday tracking, but it is not required to use for planning. You can try it out and see if the additional features are something that would benefit your family. The one thing I love about Cozi is that you can share the one calendar with all family members and it syncs to school or sport schedules.
Once I feel like the year is organized from what I already know, I then move on to planning out the budget and homeschool schedule as I know it. Remember, you cannot plan for what you do not know! When the unexpected happens, you can then look at your planner and adjust without panicking (or at least only minor panicking).
From planning on paper, I move to working around the house. I clean out the pantry and medicine cabinets. Clothing not fitting or ready for a new you? Let’s get a donation pile started so you can make room for the new. When I need storage items, I like to use storage totes for items that are in closets and hidden. Below are some of my go-to storage items.
Get started kicking off the new year with some planning and organization and see if that helps you with a new outlook for the new year.
