Getting Ready for a New Year

I love this quiet period between Christmas and the new year, it’s so peaceful. My inbox tends to be pretty quiet this time of year, the phone doesn’t ring much, and I don’t tend to make plans since it’s nice to just enjoy the peace. I like to set aside one day to get myself ready and organised for the new year, it’s always nice to know that on January 2nd I’ll be going back to work ready for the year, not swamped!

Now this year, I’m away in New York from Christmas day to New Year’s day, so I had to have my ‘getting sorted’ day a little earlier than usual, but it meant I could document what I did to share with you guys, in case you’re feeling the getting organised fever too!

Get a new diary. New year, new diary, nobody wants to be doing the WHSmith rummage on January 4th looking for a semi decent diary. You guys know I’m loyal to my Erin Condren Life Planners, but I’ve also got a new bullet journal ready and waiting to go on January 1st. It’s so satisfying to start a new week + new year on fresh paper.

Declutter your desk. Archive files you don’t need, throw out pens that don’t work, discard old coffee receipts and scraps of paper. Give your desk a good clean, stash your new diary and notebooks away ready for your return to work. I also like to stash a little Christmas chocolate in the drawers too, to make the return to work a little easier!

Have a digital declutter. When was the last time you organised the files on your computer? Sort through your files, get rid of anything you don’t need, back up any sensitive information or documents onto an external hard drive, archive old photos you don’t need. Get rid of that annoying startup disk full pop up for January.

Unfollow on social media. You know that one person who’s posts you always see but never like? Or the person who makes you annoyed every time their profile photo appears? Yes, unfollow them. There’s no shame in unfollowing if you’re not digging their content. It’ll make your social media experience in 2018 much more positive.

Set yourself SMART goals. I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions, but I love to have a few goals for the year, to give myself something to work towards. I like to set one business, one personal and one health related goal for the year, and I find that having those in mind gives me a sense of purpose + direction for the year. I did write a little guide to goal setting over on Wild Imagination so check that out if you need a little help!

I hope you’re all enjoying the festive period + let’s face it, the idea of going back to work is a little better when you know everything’s organised!

What do you like to do for a new year?