Dear Friends,

Each day is a fresh start. So much emphasis is put on New Year’s Resolutions, and when you are not successful with them in the first few days, you start beating yourself up. I want you to stop doing this.

It’s good to have goals and routines. It is good to dream. You just need to be patient with yourself when you set a new goal. You need to celebrate the baby steps. You want to see a big change all at once, and it takes time to make changes into daily routines and habits.

In your mind, you are thinking you want to “get organized” and “get the clutter under control.” Then, something happens to through you off track, and you abandon ship on the change you were trying to make in your life.

The FlyLady’s system works because she tells you to make small changes and practice new habits for a month. Then you can add something else to your routine. The monthly routines guide you through this process. It is laid out for you. You do not have to re-invent the wheel.

In January, our focus is the kitchen sink. It sounds simple and silly to some of you, but I can tell you from personal experience that starting with the kitchen sink works in helping you get control of the clutter in the rest of the house.

As homeschoolers, some of you feel that pressure to jump right into the school morning. Allow 15 minutes before you want to start school for quick home missions. You can do the Home Blessing of the day with your children before you start school, or you can do your daily zone mission at this time.

Finding a spot in your daily routine for the Home Blessing and the Zone Mission will help you feel like a huge success each day when you complete it. I suggest the you do one of these before the start of your school day, and I suggest you do the other one right after lunch.

If you have a regular appointment or co-op or activity that takes you out of the house for most of the day, make sure you are not counting on that time to do a Home Blessing or Zone Mission.

Start with your weekly trash day. That is Friday for me, and I build the rest of my week around that particular Home Blessing. Here’s why….

As you declutter, you are going to trash some items. You want to trash the most the day before trash day. You want to work your donations into the day you typically do your errands, so keep the donation box in your car and add to it. You are maximizing your errand time by doing it that way.

Monday is the day I wash my bedding. Tuesday is the day I dust and vacuum. Wednesday is when I wipe the windows and mirrors because it is a quick and easy Home Blessing for me. Thursday is the day that I toss paper and other clutter. Friday we have the team approach to sweeping, mopping, and taking off the trash. I declutter leftovers from the fridge on Fridays as well.

You might take a different approach to your Home Blessings. I did mine on Mondays for many years as the FlyLady suggests. If you can set aside an hour each Monday to do all 7 parts of the Home Blessing Hour, you will feel like you can take on the rest of the week and not be concerned about fitting them into your daily routines.

Probably your biggest source of clutter in your home is paper, and you can tame the paper clutter by tossing paper for 5 minutes a day. Just set your timer and do it. If you think about it, you will keep procrastinating it.

This morning is your fresh start. Check the sink. If it’s full of dishes, take care of them. Then move into your Morning Routine. You can do it!

Today’s Zone Mission is to sweep and/or vacuum in Zone 1.

Your Home Blessing for today is to declutter paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is corn dogs and tater tots for the boys. I am having a salad.

Have a great day!