This week I’m wrapping up my series on habits. So far we’ve covered daily habits, weekly habits, monthly habits, and seasonal habits. Today we finish out with some simple annual habits to get and stay organized. These may take a bit more time, but they are game changers when it comes to feeling in control of our time, space, and belongings.
Annual Habit #1 – Declutter Personal Products
Annual Habit #2 – Clear Out Your Files
Annual Habit #3 – Plan Out Big Events on Your Calendar
Annual Habit #4 – Sweep Out Storage Areas
Annual Habit #5 – Dispose of Hazardous Household Waste
Annual Habit #6 – Curate Memorabilia
Annual organizing projects provide benchmarks for decluttering and organizing. If you haven’t done any of these tasks for years, they may take some time to complete. If you feel overwhelmed, reach out for help. Tackling a backlog can feel daunting. However, once you get into performing these habits annually, you will find that they can be accomplished fairly quickly and easily. In fact, you may be surprised to discover that you actually look forward to these habits, especially as you experience the emotional “lift” that comes from getting your life in order.
What are your annual habits for getting and staying organized?
I am a huge fan of annual file decluttering. Right when you do your taxes is the best time to declutter, shred and archive papers for the year! Kudos to you for reminding us!
Every year when we clear out our files I get happy. So much space and all the files slide easily on the rails. 🙂
I get so excited when I have a hygiene product that’s about to finish, and I don’t tend to over buy which is really good. But I see how someone could end up with a lot of items with all the deals they have weekly.
The file declutter is a another great advice.
How many times we have clients with boxes of memorabilia that can’t let go of? it’s mind blowing.
Thanks for all the great tips.
Just worked on a personal products clear-out with a client. Got rid of 3+ large garbage bags. It not only looked great but just felt so healthy!
These videos are gems, Seana, filled with great ideas and cues for organizing and maintenance.
With the change of seasons, many of the things you mentioned, I’ve been engaging with. Decluttering personal products, check! Planning out big events and projects, check! Clearing out files and sweeping out storage (the garage), check and check!
Sweeping the garage resulted in reviewing some items and boxes. And guess what? That resulted in taking a trip to our local recycling center to drop off paints, hazardous liquids, electronics, and light bulbs.
Looks like the only category I didn’t get to yet, is curating memorabilia. Mostly, I have things curated, but there are a few areas that need my attention. Thank you for the cue.
Wow, you’ve been knocking it out of the park, Linda! I’m cheering for you over here.
I need to tackle the memorabilia myself. At the moment, it is mostly hidden in my attic behind my daughter’s things, making it hard to access. My recent memorabilia drawer could use a going over, though. Might tackle that on the next rainy day (which we seem to be having plenty of this year!).
These are all great tips. I love the idea of putting the hazardous waste disposal day in your calendar. It usually takes me by surprise when I see it advertised in the newspaper.
I agree, and then I’m not ready and end up passing it by. Now I’m putting the day in my calendar so I don’t miss it. When I’m ready, it is actually a very simple task.
I’m so glad you mentioned going through your files. And, boy, I know people, me included, need to be reminded to review this area. We don’t see these files often, so it needs to be a habit. I like adding recurring reminders in a digital calendar to remind me of tasks that need a quick review and decluttering.
It’s kind of nice to have those reminders going throughout the year. It makes the regular culling seem approachable, rather than overwhelming. The files is always such a relief. I love how open the file drawers are after this process.
Now that it’s Tax Day, I’m actually looking forward to going through my paper files and reducing the backlog; maybe it’s because I’m Paper Doll, but I always feel like that’s the reward for having gone through the whole tax process!
I think I probably clear out my personal items two or three times a year. I don’t buy much (just drugstore cosmetics and toiletries) but when my old containers get low, I decant the contents into my travel containers, usually just before trips. It gets rid of the excess, but in a productive way, and then the big bottles can go away. (It helps that I have faves and don’t do a lot of experimenting; there are rarely unused extras.)
As an apartment-dwelling singleton, I don’t have a family calendar to plan, storage areas to sweep, or any hazardous waste, so these are great annual projects I might otherwise forget to discuss with my clients. And while I haven’t acquired much in the way of memorabilia since the onset of the pandemic (I think I’ve only done ONE THING, on one day since 2020 that yielded memorabilia!), I am definitely overdue on sorting through and purging memorabilia from 2018 and 2019; it’s time to curate that and move on. (It’s time to look at my Italy and UK trip stuff! Thanks for the reminder!)
All great points!
I’m laughing about the “one thing, one one day” since 2020. Maybe we still have great, fun, lives, we just no longer cherish keeping memorabilia? I’ve slowed my pace quite a bit since my younger days…