Today starts my new series: 31 Days of 30-minute Organizing Projects. If you are visiting my site, welcome, and be sure to subscribe for daily projects you can complete in just a few minutes to start your New Year off right.

It’s take-down day at our place. No, it’s not an Eagles play, but the day we pack up the holiday decor and organize the decorations for next year. If you are doing the same, just break it down into chunks of 30 minutes or so, and you’ll be done in no time.

• Enlist a helper. Having someone else help with carting the holiday storage boxes up and down can really shorten the whole process. You might find one of you doesn’t mind the schlepping, and one of you doesn’t mind the detail work of wrapping up small and delicate items. Find your strengths.

• Invest in great holiday decoration storage boxes. They may seem pricey, but good ones can last the rest of your life. Choose red and green containers, so they are easy to spot in your storage space. Specialty storage like wreath cases and Christmas Ornament Storage Boxes (shown above) keep the contents safe from squishing. C’mon, don’t you agree a feathered wreath this great deserves its own bin?

• Choose storage containers that aren’t too big to fit through doorways or too heavy when loaded. You might need more but smaller boxes, to make the whole process easier to manage.

• Pack decorations away, organizing each room into its own box, and you’ll save time on this end and on the unpacking/decorating next year, too.

Once the decorations start coming down, you might feel like the space feels empty, or you might get sidetracked by wanting to clean or organize certain parts of your space. Stay focused! Put all the decorations away before you start to tackle a new project. Once your decorations are down, if your space could use some sprucing up or a new shot of color, we can help with a one-day redesign, like this laundry room makeover.

Each organizing task should have a reward. Maybe we’ll explore that a little later. But for now, think what your reward will be. Preferably something non-clutter and non-calorie laden. Now that your decor is all put away, reward yourself, maybe with a cup of hot chocolate.

What will your reward be for organizing your holiday decorations?

This post is part of my series, 31 days of 30-minute Organizing Projects. Be sure to subscribe (at right) for daily projects you can complete in just a few minutes to start your New Year off right.