On New Year’s Eve, Kelly texted me. We haven’t talked in years, but she changed my day for the better. I have a feeling 2021 is going to be like that. We’ll be in pandemic mode for a bit longer, with moments of familiarity and flashes of what comes next. Geeze, we’re ready for change now!

Getting organized has always been among the top New Year’s resolutions, along with getting out of debt, saving more, eating better, and spending more time with family. Spending more time with family in 2020: nailed it. LOL! But while you are spending more time at home during the last nine months, are you feeling like you are more or less organized? If you were in survival mode up until now, it’s time to evolve into living the organized life you want. Science tells us that goals like, “get more organized” and, “save more money” don’t work. Changes come with specific plans and actions like, “clean out the fridge every Friday” and “put aside every $5 bill that comes through my hands.” (Read to the bottom for my best tip on getting organized today.)

Stories of change are what HeartWork Organizing is all about. They keep us charged up! We LOVE what we do! THIS might be the year you need us most, and after 16 years of doing what I love, I want you to know that the team and I are here for you more than ever.

One of my clients broke her foot on Christmas Eve, and she’s now on crutches. She tells me that she’s really ready to reduce the clutter that is “now a hazard as well as an eyesore and stressor.” She’s ready to make big changes. I’m truly excited for her, and we’ll be there in person (safely) to do the heavy lifting.

Another gal moved into her home over a year ago but hadn’t fully moved out of her old home (her son continued to live there) until we made a plan, coordinated the final move of her furniture, and designated homes for all of her things. Now she’s using her new filing system we set up virtually, caught up on bills, feeling more in control of her health with decades of health records scanned and filed, and finally feeling at home. She’s called me her “fairy godmother.” I call her brave for overcoming her circumstances, and I’m proud to know her.

A client in California reached out to us, completely frazzled, for paper organizing help. After months of progress, we both feel good about her taking a break from our sessions for three months, as she orchestrates an interstate move. She’s feeling prepared and experiencing real change with 15-minute mini-sessions to stay on top of her papers. Sound boring? It wouldn’t be if you knew all the cool jobs this woman has held (private eye??) and all the places she loves to travel.

This year, dozens of clients brought us boxes of forgotten and damaged photos, films, and audiotapes, which we carefully organized, scanned, digitized, and taught them how to enjoy with today’s technology. It’s been a great honor to help so many people with this important pandemic project.

My daughter has asked me to cut off her very long hair. She’s got enough to donate to Locks of Love, so it’s going to be a big change for her, and I’m proud of her. New year, new look!

Will your story in 2021 be one of transformation?

Will you change or organize one little thing?

Will you change one big thing?

Will you be kind to yourself? A friend to someone else? Brave?

SORT and Succeed addresses the two main problems of getting organized: getting started and feeling finished. Our free Clutter-free FaceBook Group, is again using SORT and Succeed to organize their home one space at a time, make big decisions, and support their family through change. Here’s our plan for this year, with a focus project each month. Will you join us?

From HeartWork Organizing for YOU in 2021:

• Follow along this month on the blog for 31 days of organizing projects. It has been a tradition here to run a daily article in January to give you a quick-start program to getting organized. The articles tend to be a bit shorter and a little more image-oriented. If you aren’t already subscribed to my daily emails, you can subscribe here for organizing tips.  I’ll update with links below all month with organizing tips, so bookmark this page.

• • Kitchen & pantry
  • Storage & closets
  • Home office
  • Living & family rooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Photos
  • Technology
  • Time management
  • and more!

• The long-awaited audio version of Organizing Your Home with SORT and Succeed will be out later this month. Squee!!! You’ll love that it’s under 2 hours long. That’s no time at all, while you are commuting, working in the garden, or taking a walk. If you haven’t started listening to audiobooks, this is a great way to taste-test them. Let me know in the comments if you’ve been waiting for the audiobook.

• I’m planning a recurring series of short live and recorded training, but I want to do even more good through this series. The plan is to charge a small $10 registration fee per class and donate 100% to local and national food banks. We’re going to need to support our communities in many ways this year, and this is something that we can do together. Here are the tentative topics for this series:
  • Do Good While Decluttering
  • SORT and Succeed in Action
  • Email Organizing Now
  • Organizing a Lifetime of Photos

Which training sessions sound good to you? Please comment below to help choose the topics.

My Best Organizing Tip for Change Right Now

While I know you are eager to get organized, here’s my best tip that I hope you’ll use to start change right now: organize first using what you have. Please, please don’t buy more plastic. It won’t get you organized, and it might become more clutter! You already have everything you need. Don’t get sucked in by email and online ads that will be coming at you hot and heavy over the next couple of weeks! Don’t start by buying anything at all. Start with writing down (in 5 words or less) the organizing project you can tackle in about 15 minutes. Then get going by grouping your things together. Then see what you already own that can help you organize your space, repurposing what you can.  This is all the SORT and Succeed system (learn it here for free).

Then, after just a little success, reward yourself for your progress (Step 5 of the SORT and Succeed system). Reward yourself today. Don’t wait for perfection. You deserve to be rewarded for any change now. Change your brain by rewarding yourself, and your New Year’s resolutions will finally stick! That’s a way to make real change in 2021.

It all changes now. Here’s to a fabulous 2021!

Pin for later.

January 2021 #GOMonth Organizing Articles

Quick Kitchen Organizing Hacks (Use What You Have)

Pick your Rewards Now! SORT and Succeed

Open-Shelf Pantry Organizing

Teen Closet Organizing Makeover Without Doors

Frame and Hang Your Photos and Keepsakes to Reduce Clutter

Precycling: This Organizing Tip Stops Clutter Before it Starts

The Extra Email Feature I Needed to Get Organized

Lazy Susan Kitchen Organizing With Labels

Cereal Box Hack to Organize Placemats

Things I’ve Sold Online Lately to Organize at Home

Basement Laundry Room Organizing with Teal Bins

Organizing Childhood Keepsakes and Art (Yours and Theirs)

Going Paperless: Organize Paper Clutter Without a Scanner

Bright Blue Laundry Room Organizing Makeover

Where is Your Will? 5 Things to Know about Last Wills

Drawer Organizing Made Easy (Junk/ Nightstand Drawers)

Organizing Basement Shelves-Adding Color to Storage Spaces

How to Backup Your PC Easily (Digital Organizing)

How to Backup Your Mac Easily (Digital Organizing)

Joy on Your Walls

Teen Room Organizing

Lighting Updates at Home for Winter

Pegboard Hack for Organizing Tools

Satisfying Linen Closet Organizing with Rolling Cart

Organizing an Angled Closet Under Stairs (And One Big Tip)

#OrganizingWins with SORT and Succeed (YOUR Projects)

Reclaim the Home Office & Craft Room Organizing

Monthly Organizing Plan: Where Will You Be in a Year? 

Day 31 of SORT and Succeed: Succeed and Celebrate!