I know, it feels wrong to think about end-of-year organizing with two very busy weeks still to go before we ring in 2024. But hear me out... Many folks are hosting people for holiday meals and parties, and so it is arguably THE PERFECT TIME to think about organizing. After all, we all end up clearing and cleaning like crazy before our guests and family arrive, so why not think about longer-term solutions before shoving things in closets and under beds?
Every household has its own forms of clutter -- papers, periodicals, clothing, displaced plates and drinking glasses, etc. Obviously, displaced things should be put back where they belong. But what about all those catalogs, magazines, newspapers, mail, and other random things? Many of those can be tossed (as I'm SURE you've all finished your holiday shopping from these mailed pieces, right?), so get your recycle and trash bins ready to get your house (or party space) in order! The stuff which does not get tossed obviously needs to get put away, but into their "right places" -- do not throw them all in a shopping bag and toss the bag in a closet to deal with later!
If you have not determined the "right place" for everything, now is the time to decide on where those places should be.
Holiday cards -- if you want to display them, figure out where and do it now! If you want to save them so you know who to send yours to, or just want to keep them for posterity, put them near where you work on getting your holiday cards out.
Donation requests -- toss any and all requests if you are sure that you will not donate to that cause or if you already have. Not sure about one? Have a folder (or pile, if you must) -- clearly marked -- near where you pay bills, specifically for this purpose. You can keep and use this file all year long, by the way, as requests don't only come this time of year!
Invitations and information for upcoming plans -- I am a very strong believer in having a file called "CURRENT". Anything you get or have which will expire -- be it an invitation, coupon, ticket, directions to something, etc. -- should go in this file. Put the items in chronological order with things coming up or expiring first in the front. If there is an expiration date a few years away, it goes in the back. This will become the first place you look for important items you need to reference, and should be kept wherever important items are kept. I recommend keeping this near where you pay bills.
Bills and the like -- I actually keep all my unpaid bills in a toast rack like this on my desk. The front section holds bills to pay, then are donations to make, and then the further back sections hold offers which I havent decided what I'm going to do with and that are not important.
Paperwork which needs to be filed: I'm making a HUGE exception to my rule about filing things as soon as they come in/ are ready to be filed because, realistically, if you are in cleaning-up/ tidying-for-a-party mode, you will NOT make time to file everything before the party. BUT, there should be one (and only one!) place where all your "to file" things live, and it should be clearly marked and placed someplace you won't forget where. Ideally, this file (or folder or envelope or whatever) will live near wherever you typically file/ store these items. If you have not figured that out, you will need to do so, but give yourself a break, and save it for after the holidays and keep this file (the "To File" file) near where you pay bills until you have another home for it.
Periodicals -- As mentioned above, the vast majority of these can (and likely should) be tossed at this point. Realistically, if you have not yet read last month's newspapers, you're not going to -- so toss them. My rule-of-thumb for keeping periodicals (ie magazines, catalogs, newspapers, circulars) is to have ONE RECEPTACLE (a bin, a box, a basket) of whatever size and design you like and put all your periodicals in here when they come in. (That way, the oldest are on the bottom). Once this receptacle is filled/ over-flowing, you can just (blindly) toss the ones on the bottom. If you cannot think of the receptacle you want right now as you are cleaning, pick a large shopping bag and use that for the items you cannot part with yet -- but only one such bag -- and then hide it in the closet or under the bed.
End-of-Year financial statements/ tax forms/ other tax-related papers -- We all know that financial and tax papers start to arrive this time of year. Make a file called "2023 Taxes" and just toss all the mail you get which says "tax information enclosed" as well as anything else you might need for your tax preparation in this folder. Have one of these folders for every year going forward and any tax-related paperwork will all be in one place. You and/ or your accountant will thank me.
While these tips are sure to help you get ready for your holiday get-togethers, don't forget that you can apply many of these filing solutions to your electronic clutter as well! Have folders/ labels with the same names as the paper ones above set up on your computers and in your email accounts, and then store those emails and documents in them, as they come in. (More about electronic filing later.)
For those of you who are simply looking for ideas on how to actually get your home ready for a party, here's a pretty good article from Better Homes to read. Know, of course, that I am not a proponent of simply moving the clutter out of the room(s), but I realize you do what you need to do.
Recognizing that some of you with clutter will not be needing to clean up specifically for guests or get-togethers, I would like to point out that there's no time like the present to get things in order. And, for those who are naturally or trained organized beings, sit back and enjoy the end of the year festivities!
Happy and Merry everything from Donnarama Dishes.
(If you are looking for professional help dealing with paperwork (virtual or electronic), please reach out to Orderly Affairs.)