I love the New Year, all those possibilities. I think I can tackle everything, all in one week.๐ Here’s a list of 5 things we can do that won’t overwhelm us.
- Change the wallpaper on your phone (if you don’t know how, here’s a how-to article). That’s an instant way to get a brand new vibe for the New Year. Use a photo of your own or check out this website I found on Pinterest with some great winter options, they are free to download. From your iPhone, just press and hold down the photo you like and a mini screen will appear at the bottom, choose “save to photos” and it will populate in your photo album on your phone.
2. Instead of overwhelming yourself with a “clean my entire house in one day” strategy, just tackle a mini-project. One thing. Maybe a junk drawer. Just one. Find a little nook or cranny in your space and tidy it up. Or grab your handbag or wallet and do a quick edit. I am always surprised how accomplished I can feel doing something small and it normally motivates me to move on to something bigger.
3. Create a winter playlist.๐ถ Now that holiday music is over, what are we all going to listen to? Make a brand new playlist. Maybe it’s ambiance music on YouTube to motivate you while you are doing something else (I love to do that๐). You can create a playlist for anything. Your morning walk, workouts or just background music while you work. You can use the free version (has ads) on Spotify or Apple Music.
4. This is a big one and you are going to love it, take all those old/not using apps and archive them. Here’s what I do on the iPhone. A couple of times a year, I go thru all my “Home Screen pages” and look for apps I rarely use or not at all. I have resistance to getting rid of apps on my phone in case, one day, I might need that parking app again in a random city I visited. I have so much stuff on my phone I know I will never use again. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DELETE IT.
Take all those apps and put it in a folder (I put mine on one of my last home screens of my phone) and label it Archives. You can get to anytime you want, you haven’t deleted it! Your phone and your life become instantly less cluttered (you can always search for it if you need it later. To create a folder, just press the app, hold down and drag it onto another one and it will automatically create a folder to hold them๐). Feeling extra motivated? Try getting your email inbox to zero. If it’s just too much, do the same thing. Create a folder with the date, and just slide everything over and mark it 2024. There’s no reason to drag all that junk mail into 2025.
5. Listen/read something to motivate you. Whatever that is for you. Before we tackle the New Year, listen to (or read) something that builds you up. Maybe that is your favorite minister, author or self-help guru. YouTube is a great resource for that (I’m biased, but props to YouTube for being the absolute best free content on the planet). I reread or listen to Atomic Habits once a year (at least). Here’s a free recap of it HERE.
*Bonus* I love to write down my goals at the new year and do a vision board. I know that can overwhelm a lot of people though. Instead, try a New Year Bingo Board. Here’s how… just come up with 25 things (depending on your layout) and make a grid like the example (image from PureWow). I give myself a free space right in the middle of the board. In each, write something you want to do this year, something you want to achieve, etc. It can be anything like… finally clean out that garage, take a cruise, read a book or explore a new hobby. Then, when 2025 comes to an end, take it out and see how you did. Did you bingo once, maybe twice? Who knows? It’s just a fun way of being a bit more intentional with our motivations. Here’s where you can read more about it and get a little inspo.
Here’s to you in the New Year!
Madison
