Dear Delilah: Sticking to New Year’s resolutions

Dear Delilah: Sticking to New Years resolutions

Dear Delilah,

Every year I make New Year’s resolutions and every year I fail to follow through and stick with them. This year I want to become more organized with both my time and my belongings. What are some ways I can keep my resolution?

Sincerely,

Scatter-brained

 

Dear Scatter-brained,

Keeping New Year’s resolutions can be difficult. Life happens, and things get in the way. But don’t fear! Delilah is here to help!

The easiest way to keep your resolutions is to start your resolutions before the New Year. This will help you get into the habit of staying organized so it will become second nature. A study from the University College London shows it takes about 66 days to make an activity a habit. Starting early will also give you some time for slip ups.

Have one big day where you pull everything out of its spot and Marie Kondo your way through it: properly fold your clothes, get rid of anything that you don’t want or need and find places for any clutter.

Make a place for everything and have a system as to what goes where. I personally have a cheap three tier organizer that I got from Walmart for $15. You can even customize it with paint and stickers!

My favorite suggestion for managing your time is to breakdown your days, weeks and months with charts. For example, I like to make a pie chart divided into 24 slices and color each slice with what I was doing in that hour.

Tracking your emotions is another way to keep your mental health in check. I like to make a 12 by 31 grid and label each day and month. I color code it by emotion that was most prevalent in my day (blue is depressed, green is good, red is angry, etc.). This will help prevent you from becoming overwhelmed.

Remember not to procrastinate! It will take 10 seconds to put that paper in your binder, so why not do it right now? It’s important to keep your slip ups to a minimum this way you won’t get discouraged and give up.

Another fun way to keep your resolution is to reward yourself! You turned in every assignment on time and remembered to schedule your doctor’s appointment? Time for some froyo!

It’s also important to have a support system around you. Whether it be your friends, family or coworkers, having people to remind you to stay organized will make everything easier.

Don’t get discouraged! Stick to it and you can do it! 

Sincerely,

Delilah