#Decluttering can start with a single drawer, says Apartment Therapy’s January Cure, an annual #organization challenge that begins with the new year. Start by picking a drawer — any drawer — and dedicate 15 minutes to #cleaning it out. Remove everything from that drawer, clean the interior and replace only what you want to keep in that location back in a tidy, sensible and #organized fashion. Place anything that needs to be relocated or stored in a box and immediately throw what’s broken or unusable into the trash. Mission accomplished! At least one part of your home is clean and organized. #NewYear #NewYou #2023
Tag: new year’s resolutions
Put Decluttering on Your 2022 Plan
As you embark on a personal #decluttering initiative in the new year, be careful not to get so overwhelmed that you abandon hope. Instead, make a plan, Real Simple says. List the specific spaces in which you want to get more #organized, whether it’s a kitchen drawer, your computer desktop or the whole house. Then, break each area into actionable steps and grind away at them a little bit on a set schedule every week. “Think of it in a similar way you think of fitness routines and diets,” the site says. “These things are most successful when they are approached in a way that can be maintainable with your lifestyle.”
Resolve to Cut the Clutter Consistently
As the new year begins, many among us will take a hard look at our lives and lifestyles, making resolutions to lose weight, cut the #clutter and so on. The trouble is that sudden, sweeping moves don’t pay off as often as gradual and consistent efforts. To ensure your #decluttering effort succeeds, set more reasonable goals, says the Economic Times. If you can’t clean a whole closet at once, start with a single shelf. Or take 10 minutes each day to sort through a box or drawer, keeping a bin handy for those things you no longer want but can #donate to ClothingDonations.org.
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What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
So goes the old Frank Loesser hit. Never intended to be a holiday anthem, the song tells the tale of a suitor looking far ahead on the calendar as a testament an plea for enduring love. As we prepare for the new year, though, the question looms.
With a new variant driving COVID case numbers up, one acceptable answer is “nothing” — or at least nothing far from the confines of your own home. Gathering in large groups has again become a risky proposition, so a quiet night in might be the safest option.
If you do celebrate, keep parties small to avoid the risk of spreading the virus. A Zoom, Skype or FaceTime session is always a good option if you wish to see faraway friends and relatives faces unmasked.
Small gatherings are safest, with only the people you know have taken the appropriate precautions invited. Epidemiologists told The New York Times that those who are at low risk for serious illness and have received a booster shot can celebrate with less worry.
For planners who still want to ring in the new year in style, Reader’s Digest offers 20 themed party ideas that can keep things interesting for small groups of almost any age — game nights, pajama parties and so on.
Weather permitting, the safest way for groups made up of members of different households to celebrate is outdoors. A socially distanced bonfire, beach walk or campout might make a memorable way to ring in 2022.
Another option exists for those worn out by 2021: Get comfortable, order some food, binge-watch a show and relax. You may even choose to go to bed well ahead of the ball drop in Times Square.
Or you could begin a #clutter-free new year one day early by taking down all of those #holiday #decorations and storing the ones you’ll want to use next year. Set aside the extras and contact ClothingDonations.org for a free #donation #pickup.
Consider it an early start to your #spring cleaning and part of your #resolution to be more #organized in the new year. Happy New Year from the Vietnam Veterans of America and ClothingDonations.org!
Donate Your ‘Aspirational’ Clothes
Hanging on to clothes that don’t fit as an incentive to keep a New Year’s resolution to get in shape? Studies show that this strategy tends to backfire by reminding people that they aren’t the same slim size they were in the past, producing a sense of inadequacy that can result in behavior that doesn’t support the goal. Instead of holding out for the day those clothes might fit again, donate them to ClothingDonations.org and take a long walk or sign up for a fitness class. When you reach a more ideal size, you can buy new clothes!