10 Ways to Reset and Refresh Yourself for the New Year

It’s finally 2020, and this year feels special. Everyone is setting their intentions and speaking their prosperity aloud. The energy is contagious and I love it. We’re betting on ourselves all 2020 and beyond, okay?

The new year always brings a sense of renewal and opportunity. It feels like a chance for a fresh start, but it’s easy to get lost in the sauce when deciding what that means, or where to begin.

I know for me, a disorganized or unbalanced space can be the culprit behind a lack of motivation and productivity. When my home is a mess, so is my brain.

Here are 10 ways to truly reset, so that you can start the year off with the blank slate you need.

1. Clean out your closet. Get rid of the stuff you haven’t worn in the past two years.

If you’re anything like me, you’re a hoarder. You hoard clothes, because, who knows when that top you bought seven years ago might come in handy? Fashion repeats itself, right? You hoard pictures, because memories. You hoard papers and documents, just to be safe.

Fresh starts mean letting go. If you haven’t worn something in the past few years, you probably won’t pull it out in the next few years, either. Instead of letting your things gather dust for yet another trip around the sun, toss them in a bag and drop them off at a Goodwill–or, if you’re getting rid of some really nice stuff, you could always head over to sites like Poshmark or ThredUp and make a little cash by selling it.

2. Clean out your fridge and pantry.

How many of y’all still have seasonings in your pantry that you bought three years ago? Don’t lie! Lol. What about that half-empty package of frozen vegetables that you forgot was in the back of your freezer?

I’m willing to bet that we’re all guilty of holding on to some of the things in our fridge and pantry a little too long. Take a moment to sort through and check the expiration dates on everything–get rid of the items that are expired, or that you know you aren’t going to use any time soon.

Make a list as you go, so you can hit the grocery store (literally one of my favorite things, and it’s always an all-day affair LOL) and freshen up your stock. You can also make it an opportunity to cook up something fun with those ingredients in your pantry that you forgot you had!

3. Deep clean your kitchen and bathroom.

And I mean “Saturday morning at 8 AM with the oldies but goodies playing” deep clean. Get into those nooks and crannies that you missed throughout the year. Get the baseboards, and the inside of the oven. Take everything out of the fridge and give it a wipe-down with some soap and water. Organize the inside of those drawers. Straighten up that linen closet.

There’s nothing more refreshing than knowing that your space is clean–even those spaces that you can’t necessarily see.

4. Clean out your camera roll.

If you have over 5,000 pictures in your camera roll, raise your hand! Keep your hand up if you have over 10,000.

Is it only me that gets stressed when I see how many pictures I have, but even more stressed at the thought of deleting them? I don’t know about you guys, but pictures are my thing (if you know, you know lol). I take tons of pictures, I save them, I print them, I cherish them. My current apartment is actually my first space since middle school in which I haven’t had a huge picture wall of some sort.

Long story short, I get it–no one wants to lose their memories. But how many old screenshots, photoshoot outtakes, and other random photos have you accumulated in your camera roll?

If you’re really hesitant about giving up your pictures, consider moving them to an external hard drive where they can safely live forever, so that you can free up some space for all the amazing new memories you’re gonna make this year.

5. Rearrange your furniture.

Sometimes, if you’ve been in a home for a long time, the space can start to feel boring or mundane. It’s not always practical to change the paint or buy new furniture, but one way to spice things up without having to break the bank is to rearrange the furniture. We’ll call it a ~soft remodel~.

I literally did this every couple months in high school! I’d move my bed, dresser and desk around my room, and although everything was technically the same, it still felt so new.

If you’re really feeling fancy, you could buy some new decorations, too. New curtains, different-colored throw pillows, or new wall art can completely change the vibe of the room!

6. Unsubscribe from those email lists. Clear out your inbox.

Alright, maybe you won’t be able to go through and delete all 20,000 of the junk emails in your inbox. But in order to gain some control over your inbox-gone-haywire, unsubscribing from all those promotional emails might be a solid start.

That way, your daily influx of mail will be drastically reduced, and you can better manage what does make it to the inbox.

It’s a win-win, because unsubscribing will also help you save money. Do you really need to know when there’s a sale happening at every store you’ve ever shopped at?

7. Buy a physical planner.

Everything is digital these days, I know. There are tons of people who get by with the Reminders app and their phone’s built in calendar. But there’s something about a physical planner that makes you feel more grounded. More stable.

It wasn’t until I started my career that I started to religiously use a planner. I bought one every year in college, and ended up using it all of three weeks before tossing it in a drawer at my desk and never opening it again. I guess adulting really forces you to pull it together lol.

Planners are great for tracking your appointments, deadlines, and goals. Handwriting is also a much more efficient way to process and remember information, according to this study.

8. Clean out your car.

If it’s been months since you’ve gotten a car wash, let alone cleaned out the inside of it… I feel you. Life happens, adulting is hard, busy-ness is ever-present.

Go ahead and treat yourself to a thorough cleaning–get the tires waxed, carpets shampooed, the whole nine. If you’re one of those people with their life in their trunk (guilty!), take some time to (you guessed it!) go through it and get rid of everything you don’t need. Don’t forget to buy an air freshener.

9. Make a list of SMART goals for 2020.

Y’all already know I’m a huge fan of SMART goals; that is, goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Research shows that setting clearly defined, specific goals results in greater productivity and a better probability of achievement than vague, generalized goals.

Challenge yourself to develop all the goals you set for yourself this year into SMART goals. Check out this post for more on writing SMART goals!

10. Schedule all your annual health appointments.

Instead of getting to July and realizing that you haven’t been to the eye doctor in three years, take 20 minutes to schedule all of your routine health visits for the year. Get your annual physical, visit your gynecologist, get your teeth cleaned and your eyes checked. For me, my line-up will include a visit to the dermatologist too.

How do you plan to reset for the new year? Let me know!