New Semester, New Challenge

If you aren't familiar with the concept of 30-day challenges, check out this TED talk. I show it to my students every semester because it's a short introduction to the idea. I also encourage them to look at lists, such as the one below, for ideas.

I tossed around many ideas including 30-days of writing, meditating, or cutting out sugar. I settled on one I know will be very challenging for me: 30 days of organization

The idea is that I will make a list of 30 small projects in my house and try to tackle an average of one a day. At the end of the 30-days, my spaces will be de-cluttered, re-organized, and more efficient. While I'm not a super messy person, I'm certainly not a neat freak, and with 2 kids, 2 dogs, a part time job, multiple hobbies, an active social life and a busy volunteer schedule...Clutter Happens! Piles gather on counter tops, clothes get thrown into laundry baskets, and half-finished projects get stashed on the craft table for indefinite amounts of time. My goal is to de-clutter and put some new systems in place to minimize the accumulation in the future. It sounds difficult and tedious, and when I have precious free time, I know it'll be hard to convince myself to spend it cleaning. But I've set the goal and I will give it my best.