10 New Habits For the New Year
What good organizational habits can you build in 2022?
Many of us get a bit introspective towards the end of the year, reevaluating the year gone by and making plans for the upcoming one. We all want to do better, be better. Update last year's version to the new and improved one. So why not begin with new habits for the new year?
I get it. Resolutions are so outdated. They just set us up for failure, and then we end up chastising ourselves and feeling like we are to blame, leading to anxiety and depression. Nobody wants or needs that. But I'm not talking about die-hard, make-or-break resolutions. These are small habits anyone can learn and get into.
How to Start New Habits
In the book Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, he teaches why changing behaviors like weight loss, exercise, getting up early, even making your bed fail. But he also teaches how to overcome the odds and make these habits stick. In his effort to teach how to start new habits, he boils it down to three things-Anchor, Action, Victory.
What does that mean? Well, habits are the things we usually do without giving them much thought. Getting up and measuring out the coffee with our eyes half-closed. Getting in the car and strapping on our seat belts. We may not even remember doing it, but these actions get done nonetheless. Other things may be:
Going to the bathroom
Sitting down at your desk
Feeding your animals or kids
Showering
Driving to work
Just repetitive actions you take regularly. These are what you are going to tie your new tiny habits to.
So you would pick a tiny habit. Say your end result is to leave your bathroom counter clean after you get dressed in the morning. Well, doing it right off the bat may seem intimidating, and the chances are that practice won't last long. So instead, you take a tiny step. On day one, after you put on all your make-up and curl your hair, because you do this 5 days a week, you put one thing back—just one. And then you take your victory. Then once that becomes a habit, and you do it without thinking, you put two things away. And so on.
Ok, but what is a victory? Every living creature (except maybe cats) loves approval. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way when we do something right. So when you accomplish the action of your tiny habit, you will celebrate your victory in some small way. Maybe you give yourself a thumbs up, shout WHOO-HOO, or shake your groove thing in a victory dance. It doesn't matter, as long as you celebrate your success. This will become part of your new tiny habit, too.
And together, those three things, anchor, action, and victory, are how you successfully create new habits and stick with them.
New Habits for the New Year
While this blog lists 10 new habits for the new year, no one expects you to shoot out of the gate and tackle all of them right away. It's best to try only one of them until it becomes a habit. Once it becomes second nature, try adding in a second habit until you master that one while still performing the first one.
Just keep stacking them until you are a master in organizing habits. Ten habits may seem overwhelming initially, but once you get the hang of it, especially if you take the time to implement the Tiny Habits strategy, you will be nailing these organizing habits in no time. Remember to be patient with yourself and that it's ok to go slow because making new habits stick is what's important.
Make a List
Making a list is a quick organizing habit you can get into. You can't mark things off your to-do list without having one first. I know so many people think they can keep a mental list and everything will be A-OK, but the truth is so few people have a picture-perfect memory, so it's important to write things down.
Writing it down also allows you to do two things. One, follow a train of thought, where you can see where one to-do leads into another so you can complete a series of actions instead of a portion of them. This helps you avoid creating more work for yourself down the line. And two, it allows you to estimate the time involved in completing each task.
When keeping a mental note, we rarely think in terms of time, or it is some vague concept we don't actualize in the planning of our day. When we write our to-do list down, we can see "Go to the bank" and know ok, it takes me 10 minutes to drive there, 10 to drive back, and 15 minutes to wait in line. That is a 35-minute errand. Is there something else I can get done while I am out?
2. 2-minute Rule
When figuring out how to start new habits, the 2-minute rule in David Allen's Getting Things Done book may be just the organizing habit you've been looking for.
The concept is if there is a task you can do in under 2 minutes, go ahead and do it. Wash, dry, and put away your breakfast dishes. Hang up your bath towels and straighten the bath mats. Tidy the living room before heading into your bedroom for the night. That type of thing. Just two minutes. Not much of a commitment at all.
3. Use Your Hands
I know for many moms, it seems like we never have a free hand, but IF you do, use them. Never leave a room empty-handed. Pick up something to take back to where it belongs.
Many distracted moms have good intentions of doing just this but then get distracted and carry the item into a different room and leave it only to trade it for another item. This is mom-life. So use the tiny habits method to break that habit and start a new one of returning items to where they go every time you leave the room. And better yet, teach your kids to do the same.
4. Make Your Bed
A bed that is made makes any bedroom instantly look neater. If only it didn't seem like such a chore. But as part of your new habits for the new year, try to commit (or add it to your list of goals) to making your bed.
We all wake up. Whether that be in the morning, mid-afternoon or night. It is easy to make that your anchor, and you can start with just pulling your sheet up, then progress from there until all 22 pillows are covering your bed in the perfect layout.
5. Use Your Laundry Basket
Using laundry baskets is a team effort, I know, but it can be done. Teach everyone involved how to use the Tiny Habits method to learn a new habit: when you take off clothes, you put them in the hamper (gasp!) and then take a victory lap. Clothes don't belong on the floor.
6. Take it online
You can take your new habits online and delete your emails as you go. There is no need to keep junk mail or mail you will not respond to. If it is junk mail, unsubscribe by using an app such as Unroll.me or clicking the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email. If it's a personal email, either file it or delete it.
7. Clean Your Counter
Kitchen counters are a catch-all. It's where everyone drops their...well, everything. Keys, mail, books, homework, air pods, phones, toys, snacks. And while not having any room might be a great excuse not to cook, clutter is not good for anyone. So keeping it clear of everyone's belongings is key.
This one should be easier because you can enlist the help of others to grab their own belongings and put them away. But while you're cooking, talking on the phone, or helping with homework, all anchor items, you can be sorting and cleaning the island and counters.
It's always a good idea to have one central area for everyone to place their daily belongings in that isn't your kitchen—things like keys, wallets, mail, book bags, jackets, etc. Try to create one that is out of the way and not in your kitchen.
8. Gather it Up
Set a daily alarm to do an end-of-day roundup. Do it before the kids go to bed so you can get them involved too. Set the timer for 15 minutes. If your kids are small, make a game out of it. If your kids are older, you might just have to grin and bear it through 15 agonizing minutes of complaints.
But take those 15 minutes and gather up what you can and put it in its home. Do not gather up more than you can put away-that doesn't help the situation. The goal is to put things where they belong. These are organizing habits, and if items aren't put away correctly, they aren't organized.
9. Wrapping it Up
When it comes to how to start new habits, the way is not always clear, especially when it comes to organizing habits. We often have more items than we need, and not everyone is on board with our organizing goals making it an uphill battle.
That's why starting tiny habits can make the tasks seem so much more bearable, and the method can easily be taught to children so you can enlist their help in a fun way.
So try these new habits for the new year in whatever order that makes sense to you. Just don't try to take them all on at once. I want you to be successful. If you need help tackling more extensive projects, please reach out. The team at Alana's Organizing is always here to help serve you with a smile.
