I couldn’t pass a magazine rack over the last few weeks without seeing headlines that riffed on the phrase “new year, new you”.

If only that was true.

We all go into the new year with high hopes for how things are going to be different, packed into a series of New Year’s resolutions that usually involve the gym, healthy eating, and a sudden aptitude for time-management.

More than likely, most of those resolutions have already been broken. As I write this my efforts to cut out sugar have been thwarted by the Kit-Kat I inhaled less than 10 minutes ago.

The first step to starting over and actually achieving your goals this year is to forgive yourself for the resolutions that didn’t last. The next step is to focus on something a bit more immediate and achievable – organising your living space.

Here’s PureWow:

Few things elicit a groaning “ughhhh” quite like Mondays, filing your taxes and finally getting organised. We can’t help you with the first two, but Gilat Tunit of The Project Neat has made a career out of that last one—despite being a “pretty hot mess” in her earlier years.

Tunit has three pro tips for getting organised:

Zone Out

Don’t think too hard about what you’re about to do.

“The fear of starting and not seeing an end in sight is hard to battle.” Just like completing any task, it’s worth starting small, targeting an area that’s really driving you crazy—say, your kitchen countertops—then breaking that area up into “zones” based on how you use the space”.

I recommend watching something to get in the mood, and then watching something else to keep you entertained while you declutter.

Make Use Of Storage

If you have a large garage, now is the time to invest in some hardware.

“The garage is a great place for wall organisation, for all the things that never seem to have a home,” Tunit says.

A wall-mount organiser can keep mops, brooms, rakes and dusters from becoming tripping hazards, and Tunit suggests hanging up sports gear and outdoor toys so they don’t take over your yard.

Then there’s everything else that you don’t want to get rid of, but also don’t want taking over your space.

You could always ring up Stor-Age, South Africa’s leading self-storage brand, who provide secure self-storage units tailored to your needs for as long as you need them.

They’ll also provide you with a range of self-storage boxes, padlocks, bubble wrap, tape, and other self-storage packaging items to make your journey to that minimalist life that much easier.

Added bonus – sign up here and score 50% off your first month, and you can then renew on a month-by-month basis.

You’d be surprised at the weight that lifts off your shoulders when you close the door on that storage unit.

Create A ‘Backstock Bin’

I’ve never been able to resist the three-for-one deal on pasta at Woolies, but the additional bags can take up a lot of space. That’s where a backstock bin comes in.

Tunit is a big believer in giving items a little breathing room and spacing them out, because if you can see everything on your pantry or closet shelves at a glance, you’re more likely to actually use them.

…But if you’ve ever scrolled Instagram and wondered what people do with all of their stuff (surely they own more than three bottles of Perrier and a dozen single spice jars, right?!), Tunit’s answer is the backstock bin.

It’s a tub that holds the extra boxes of pasta you bought in bulk or those three containers of cinnamon you bought because you thought you were out (twice). As you go through your neatly displayed supply, you pull from the bin and “restock,” just like a store would.

Finally, remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. If you tackle one area at a time, you’ll do a more thorough job.

The final product of your labours – living in a serene, well-organised space – is all the motivation that you’ll need to tackle the rest of those resolutions.

Nothing motivates quite like results.

[source:purewow]