One of THE most popular requests from you for funky fresh 2019 content was on getting ~organized~. And, I mean…I don’t blame ya. Everyone and her mom is binging Marie Kondo on Netflix right about now. And it’s mid-January, so we’re all, by and large, still probably rockin’ those New Year’s Resolutions. 😉 If you’re like me, you get bit by the organized bug every 32 seconds and need to tidy up or completely re-do one thing or another, whether that’s clearing out your makeup bag of anything expired (here’s how long your makeup lasts!) or rearranging your living room altogether.

SO. If you’ve got the bug like I do, here are 19 ways to get more organized in 2019.

Store passwords + payments in Dashlane. Dashlane has been one of my favorite desktop + mobile applications forEVER now. It’s one mega-secure app that can store + create passwords for *all* of your go-to websites. From social media to shopping, you can have a different password for *every* site, and they’re all safe + sound inside Dashlane. The platform will create passwords for ya, too, so gone are the days of “password012345.” Beyond saving passwords, it’ll save your payment options – your various credit cards – so that you can shop quicker, too. Whenever you need either a password for a site or payment details, just enter your one Master Password to unlock your Dashlane for 5 minutes, and everything will automatically populate for ya.
Clean out your phone camera roll. Before doing this lil’ exercise myself, I had 16,128 things on my camera roll. 16,128 things, people! That’s #AllTheThings if I ever seen it. Chances are, you’ve got 325 too many selfies and 593 too many screenshots that can all go go go. Or, you’re unlike me and more like normal folks who don’t take pictures of themselves for a living? HA. I DIGRESS. Create a set of albums to better categorize what you’re keeping, + have for quicker reference when Jane from book club asks about your cats for the third time this week. 😉
Clean out your desktop folders. Similarly to your phone camera roll, but potentially even more of a dangerous black hole since we’re more often found scrolling an iPhone than diving into the depths of a desktop computer. BUT. Open up your pictures, documents, and – the worst for me – your downloads. Clean out all of the everything that’s taking up precious memory space.
Clean out your inbox. When was the last time you hit Inbox Zero??? I’ve definitely been guilty about letting emails pile up for waaaaaay too long. Go through all unread messages + take ACTION (that’s the key!). Often, I find myself opening emails for quick scan, but then marking them as unread to actually *tend* to later. Set aside a block of time to actually do the dang thing, clearing out anything unneeded anymore + responding to anything still pending in your inbox.
Clean your makeup brushes. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as many swipe ups on an Instastory as I did when y’all saw me using on my makeup brushes. And I had a solid PILE of brushes I was handling with it, seeing as they had been on our bathroom sink for I KID YOU NOT two months. God bless my husband for not throwing them in the trash at that point. Make sure you a.) clean your brushes pointblankperiod, and b.) clean ’em in a timely manner.
Marie Kondo your closet (slash life). Raise yo’ hand if you’ve already binged Season One on Netflix! I’m part of the OG crowd that read the book first. 😉 But really tho, the KonMari method can (+ does) work WONDERS on errrr’thaaang in your life. The gist? Eliminate anything that doesn’t spark joy. You start in your closet and work through books, other papers, miscelleneous items in your kitchen + garage…and if it doesn’t spark joy when you pick it up, it goes. Beyond her specific bulleted point physical items, though, I think there’s value to be found in Marie Kondo-ing your ENTIRE life. Are there people in your life that don’t spark joy, and can they be removed? Obviously we don’t all have the luxury of literally eliminating some folks from our day to day, but do some serious analysis here to see if there are any less-than friends or toxic relationships simmering on the backburner that could/should be put to rest for 2019.
Brain dump. My go-to for always. If you haven’t done one yet this week (or yet, ever), open that link in a new tab immediately for today. TODAY IS THE DAY. Organize yo’ life by organizing yo’ BRAIN. Then, in line with point numero seis right above, if it doesn’t bring you more joy – can it go?
Something in, something out. Rule of thumb: Anytime you add something INto your life, something else must come OUT. Buy a new dress? Out with an older one. Fall in lovelovelove with a classic suede jacket? That trendy patterned bomber can go now. This lil’ rule keeps things moving and prevents the accumulation of clutter in the first place, so you can get + stay organized from the get go.
Fix up countertops. We try to do this every single night in our household, so we’re always waking up to something that feels clean + tidy. Go through any papers, sort through mail, get rid of miscellaneous clutter, and finish everything off with a spritz down with all-purpose counter cleaner. Eliminating clutter from your vantage point will get your brain in the right spot from the start.
Budget better. Your money will always be 100% worth organizing. When it comes to setting a good budget, there’s the short term + the long term. Both are important. Go through both of those links with a fine tooth comb (or rather, paper + pen 😉 ) and figure out a.) your expenses, b.) money coming in, and c.) how you can better connect dots in your bank account to get closer to your actual dreams.
Become a better planner with your planner. I’m sooooo guilty of OVERplanning, and then becoming v stressed when I inevitably can’t finish the actual 17 tasks I assigned to a day (when in reality, I should be looking at, like, 5 max). If I’m not careful, my planner becomes a hodge podge list of want-to-do’s and if-I-had-36-hours-in-one-day-I’d-do’s instead of must-do’s. Be disciplined with your time by more carefully assigning + alotting it within the construct of your favorite paper planner. I recommend time blocking while you’re at it – breaking your day into “blocks,” like 7-9 am, 9-12 pm, 12-2 pm, 2-5 pm, etc – and only assigning a task or two per block. This way, it accounts for the unpredictability in each chunk of time, and your entire day’s schedule isn’t totally thrown overboard if/when something comes up that causes a necessary shift in tasks within that block.
10-minute tidy. Always have a 10-minute tidy on your daily agenda. It’s exactly as it sounds: Set a timer for 10 minutes, and just tidy the heck up! Anything that was thrown on the floor, left on a countertop, or otherwise amok – put it in its rightful place. When the timer goes off, you’re free to chill the heck out again. And you’ll likely be surprised at how much you can tidy in 10 when you’re trying to beat the clock!
Clear out your junk drawers. And once you do, only ONE drawer in the whole house can now be for “junk.” 😉 I did this for us the other day and found SO MANY COUPONS + gift cards that hadn’t yet been used – jackpot!
Put a paintbrush into your car for a quick clean. I saw Lauren share this hack on Instastories recently, and thought it was brilliant! Simply pick up a cheapy paintbrush from the craft section at Walmart, and leave it in your car for quick cleans + dust jobs on your dash. Works wonders!
Clean out your trunk/back seat situation. Pick up a few foldable storage cubes from Target to keep back there, for separating + standing upright groceries and shopping bags. Clean out the trash. Figure out what random sh*t has been stashed under seats for Lord only knows how long. Do a quick vaccuum job while you’re at it, too!
Label everything. Boxes, containers, storage bins – make sure it’s all labeled clearly + neatly so that you actually know what’s INSIDE. We ran into this issue when putting away Christmas decorations this year – it was so much harder to put things back in unlabeled storage bins, versus in the tubs that were clearly labeled for ornaments, throw pillows, etc. It saves time just making it so that you don’t have to THINK about what goes where – you just have it organized all the time.
Make your kitchen cabinets more user friendly. I recently had to *tackle* our kitchen cabinets, and it was so freeing. Also good because a lot in kitchens expires, and ain’t nobody got time for expired goods lying about! I recommend picking up a few Lazy Susans from amazon for everything from spices to cooking oils, from hot sauces to vitamins. We have these, these, + these for our various storage solutions!
Invest in a nice set of glass Pyrex to see what’s what in the fridge + freezer. My mom used to have her fridge filled with various leftover plastic containers with undisclosed leftovers inside. She’d save + clean out things like yogurt containers or Cool Whip tubs to have different shaped storage. Only problem was that you had to open everything constantly to see what the heck was inside! Ha! Glass Pyrex are clear, they’re good quality, and they work whether you’re storing in the freezer OR fridge. Plus, everything matches, so it looks better overall!
Figure out what always gets lost, then get a Tile device for keys, a container for the TV remote – a home base for the things that seem to be forever misplaced. They come in a 4-pack on Amazon!