Not to sound cliche but what are your New Year’s resolutions? Don’t have any? That is so ok for 2021. After getting through a year where so much was out of our control, how about identifying manageable tasks and small goals instead of intimidating, overarching resolutions? The reality is, not everything may be attainable during a global pandemic.  We’d like to offer some tips on how to manage the things that you can control in your daily life, one being staying organized. Even trying out one of these ideas may create a more stable feeling in your day to day life. Check out our organizing tips for the New Year.

Keep a planner or calendar.

If you’re not already doing this, keeping track of important dates and reminders in one place can immediately help you feel more organized. For some people this may be in an email or phone calendar, which is fine. But there really is something about physically writing out a note that helps you remember it. Try maintaining one calendar or planner, instead of having separate calendars for work, home life and school, etc.  In addition to adding weekly work and school tasks, go through the calendar and fill in special dates like birthdays, anniversaries, doctor’s visits or other appointments.

Refresh your space.

For many of us home is still the main hub of our lives right now and serves so many areas of our life like work, school and entertainment. Pick a room, or even just a space to refresh, organize and make new. Maybe it’s your work from home space, a specific closet or your bathroom counter. You don’t need to tackle a whole room all at once, start with small areas to accomplish at a time so it’s less overwhelming. Clean, declutter and refresh. Consider moving furniture or decor around to livin up the space. Add a natural and calming touch to your surroundings with a new Max & Miles plant from your local HEB store, or rearrange your existing plant collection!

Meal prep and planning.

It’s not just diet and fitness fanatics that should meal prep. Anyone who wants to feel a little more organized and less burdened by the day to day task of preparing meals for yourself or your family may benefit from meal prepping. Start by planning out your meals for the week (hello Pinterest!). Then write out your grocery list to include any and all ingredients you need for the week. Utilize a grocery pickup or delivery service to make things even easier for yourself. Instead of meal prepping all your meals for the week, which can be quite overwhelming, choose to prep lunches one week and maybe breakfasts or dinners the next week. If you have a chunk of time during the weekend, prepare and pack meals in reusable containers that are ready to grab and go throughout the week.

Smaller tasks and attainable goals are the answer to how to stay organized and sane in the new year. So ditch those resolutions for something so much more useful!