new year cleaning

The Ball has dropped, the last of the party is finally cleaned up, and your New Year’s Resolutions might have accidentally gotten tossed out with the trash. Don’t worry, we all say things we don’t mean when under the influence of champagne and party hats. But if you are really looking to make some real positive change in your life for 2017, the best advice we can give you is start small, and do something that resonates with you are and who you want to be.

If you need a little bit of help thinking of things that will make your life better and make you feel good while doing it, we just happen to have a list ready.

 

1. Clean out your pantry!  No really, this is going to make you feel better. We all do it, buy something because we forgot we had it and next thing we know there’re 4 unopened tubs of peanut butter in our cabinet that we are never going to eat. Go through each space, and keep what you know you are realistically going to use. For the rest, make sure they aren’t expired and bag them up. Donate them to shelters, food banks, or even college campuses (which often have a location where they accept donation for students in need). New year, new you, new food! It’s a great motto to live by.
2. Clean out your closet. We promise this isn’t all about donating to charity. But if you have some things that you can give away, that’s great. The point of going through your closet is so you know what you have, what fits, what doesn’t, and so on. You’d be amazed at how many people buy a shirt or dress and put it in their closet only to forget about it. You may find so many hidden treasures that you won’t need to use all those gift cards your family gave you on clothes.
3. Finally match your socks. While you’re surrounded by your wardrobe anyway, take a minute to pull out all your socks and actually match them. This may sound silly, but we know you’ve had more than one morning where you could not find a pair of socks. This way, the first few weeks of the year, you can get up late for work confident that the battle to find socks won’t slow you down. Plus, we’re betting you’ve got some socks with holes, stretched-out tops, or no more partners. Set these lonely socks aside – they’re perfect for wearing on your hands when you dust hard to reach places, for DIY sock puppet projects with the kids, OR they can even make great toys for your pets.
   
   
4. Make a calendar you can use. We aren’t talking a paper calendar, but you can use that if you want. Pick whatever phone app you like. Google calendar seems to sync with everything.  If nothing else, make sure you have reminders set up at least a week in advance for things like birthdays, anniversaries, and even a reminder for the movie you saw advertised that doesn’t come out until summer 2017. It’s a little thing that will help you remember to buy gifts and make plans.
5. Learn to make at least one new dish. It’s as simple as that. Promise yourself you’ll learn one dish this year. If you’re really into cooking, one a month. They don’t have to be complicated or fancy, just put some new flavor and a little variety into your diet. We know you have about a thousand saved in your bookmarks.
6. Treat yourself.  Yes, you can use the New Year as an excuse to get yourself that thing you always wanted. Want a weekend away? Make plans to travel somewhere! Learning guitar? Take some time to replace the old strings and really clean up your baby. A moment to spoil yourself after months of planning to give to others can be very emotionally and mentally relaxing.
   
   
7. Take inventory of your holiday haul.  There are always a few things that don’t fit quite right, or need to be in a different color, or came out of the box broken. Most stores stop accepting holiday gifts returns at the end of this month, so make sure you take some time to go through what you got and take care of what needs to go back.
8. We’re not saying take down your tree, but you may want to dust it.  For a lot of people, holiday trees stay up until…Whenever. And that’s okay! But if you’re leaving yours up, take a moment to dust it, and change up the decorations. Keep that beauty – and holiday spirit – in tip-top shape with a little TLC.
9. If you made a resolution and you’re finding it too hard to stick to, try taking baby steps.  You don’t have to totally give up on your resolution if you’ve already broken it.  If you want to do something like to learn a language, try learning a new word or phrase a day. You can slowly build that up to more and more, and before you know it you’ll be picking up whole sentences and having basic conversations.
10. Make sure your home is ready for anything!

This is a good time to:

• Check batteries in alarms;
• Check batteries in remotes;
• Do a little of the deep cleaning you swear you’ll get to;
• Make sure you have at least one flashlight in an easy to reach place;
• Make sure you have candles;
• Get a bottle of water and some dry food for “just in case;”
• Check your emergency supply kit, renew/update/add items as needed;
• Go to the car, make sure it’s ready to start fresh and prepared too;
• Make sure your basic medicines/vitamins are in stock and not expired.

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Whatever way you start off 2017, don’t forget that it is okay to stumble. You won’t get to everything on your to-do list, and that’s okay. The important thing is that you’re trying and doing just a little bit more than the year before. Let us know what you plan to do and how in the comments! You might inspire someone else to greatness.

Now, You’re Almost Ready for New Year’s – What’s Next? 

• Schedule your gift now, so you don’t forget. Browse New Year gifts to USA, Canada & 200 countries, and make sure your gift is delivered on time!
• Learn your horoscope for the upcoming year with the Chinese Zodiac.
• You’ve read this far, we’re sure you have a friend who’d like to see this too. Click those share buttons below.