A Post-Holiday Reset: Simple Steps to Get Your House in Order for the New Year

Now that the holiday celebrations have wrapped up, we are bombarded with messages of health, fitness, getting organized and all the things we should be embarking on in the new year. I don’t know about you but I’m not quite ready for yet another long to do list. As I run from one thing to another, all I can think of is when is my next available free time?  

And what about the mess of holiday items and décor that are still all over the house? Where are Santa’s elves when you need them most? It’s easier than you think to clear the post-holiday clutter and make a fresh start for the new year with just a little planning.

Carve out time on your calendar.

Knowing that you have a whole block of time that you set aside will take some of the pressure off and keep the job from hanging over your head.

Break it down into smaller jobs.

If it’s too intimidating to tackle all at once, make a list of smaller tasks that you can do with shorter periods of free time.

Enlist help and delegate.

Give the kids a job, make a short honey-do list or hire out some of the cleanup.

Once the seasonal décor is all packed away, move on to a deep cleaning.

• Change the scent in your house by switching out candles and diffusers.

• Use this time to rearrange a few things for better flow and function.

• Check the batteries in your smoke detectors, clocks etc.

• Update your calendar for 2026

• Refresh your emergency kit

We make a lot of effort preparing for the holidays and celebrating them only to have a letdown when the new year rolls in. Why not put some effort into preparing for the new year so we can greet it with intention instead of exhaustion?