For folks who work in academics or have kids going back to school, September can feel like the real start of the new year. With four full months left in 2018, this is a great time to revisit your goals and make a plan to reach them. If you made any intentions back in January that you may have forgotten about, dig them out and reassess. Are they still relevant? If so, do some reflecting on what held you back from making progress. Try writing down the next very small step you need to take to reach that goal, and do that one action this week. Once completed, take the next small step, and soon you won't just be thinking about your goal, you'll be working toward achieving it!
If your New Year's resolutions are no longer speaking to you, consider setting a new goal that you can reasonably achieve between now and December 31st. It could be cultivating a positive habit, like drinking more water or processing emails daily. Choose something simple that will be easy to incorporate into your current schedule.
If your goal is to declutter your home before the holidays, I have a few things coming up that will help! I'm bringing back my decluttering challenge FiveFiveThirty in October. If you haven't participated before, the rules are simple:
spend 5 minutes a day
get rid of 5 items
repeat for 30 days
That's it! Most of us have so much excess it's easy to identify five things we no longer need. And if you follow along, by the end of the month you will be 150 things lighter! FiveFiveThirty is a great way to make progress with just a short commitment of time each day. I've created a Facebook group for folks participating in the challenge, and I encourage everyone to list or post photos of their five items each day. It's a great way to stay accountable, not to mention the fun of seeing what everybody else is getting rid of! Click here to join the group: Dare to Declutter!
I will also be teaching my 3-part class Declutter your Home and Keep it Organized. It begins on October 9th at OCM BOCES, and will be held on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:00. Click here for more info and to register.
If you found these tips helpful be sure to subscribe to the Pretty Neat weekly email! You'll get a short and sweet message each week with my best advice for a more beautiful and functional home. Click here to sign up, and you'll also receive my FREE guide: How to Get Rid of Stuff!
Make it fab!
Carrie