24 Smart Ways to Get More Organized and Productive in 2024
Happy New Year! Happy GO Month!
January is Get Organized & Be Productive (GO) Month, an annual initiative sponsored by the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO). We professional organizers and productivity experts celebrate how NAPO members work to improve the lives of our clients and audiences by helping create environments that support productivity, health, and well-being. What better way to start the year than creating systems and skills, spaces and attitudes — all to foster a better way of living?!
To start GO Month, today’s I’m echoing Gretchen Rubin’s 24 for ’24 theme that I mentioned recently, and offering you 24 ways to move yourself toward a more organized and productive life in 2024. There are 23 weekdays in January this year, so if you’re feeling aspirational and want to conquer all of these, you can even take the weekends off as the last item is a thinking task rather than a doing task.
I broke these organizing and productivity achievements down by category, but there’s no particular order in which you need to approach them, and certainly you don’t need to accomplish every one on the list, in January or even all year. Jump in and get started — some only take a few minutes.
PUT LAST YEAR AWAY
1) Make many happy returns!
Did you know that shoppers will return $173 billion in merchandise by the end of January? Chances are good that you (or someone for whom you oversee such things) got gifts that need to be returned.
Don’t put it off. The longer you wait, the more clutter will build up in your space, and the more likely you will be to suffer clutter-blindness until the return period has expired. Most stores have extended return policies during the holidays, but they can range upward from 30, depending on whether you have a gift receipt.
The Krazy Coupon Lady blog reviews the 2024 return deadlines for major retailers. She notes that you’ll get your refunds faster by returning items to the brick & mortar stores rather than shipping them back. You’ll also save money, because some online retailers charge a restocking fee.
2) Purge your holiday cards.
While tangible greeting are getting fewer and farther between, you probably still got a stack. Reread them one last time, and then LET THEM GO.
Did Hallmark or American Greetings do the heavy lifting, and the senders just signed their names? Toss them into the recycling bin. Paper Doll‘s grants you permission to only save cards with messages that are personal or resonant.
If they don’t make you cry, laugh, or go, “Ohhhhh,” don’t let them turn into the clutter you and your professional organizer will have to toss out years from now when you’re trying to downsize to a smaller home! It’s a holiday message, not a historical document; you don’t transcribe your holiday phone conversations and keep them forever, right?
The same goes for photos of other people’s families. You don’t have to be the curator of the museum of other people’s family history; let them do that.
3) Update your contacts.
Before you toss those cards, check the return addresses on the envelopes and update the information in your own contacts app, spreadsheet, or address book.
Next, delete the entries for people you’ll never contact again — that ex (who belongs in the past), that boss who used to call you about work stuff on weekends (ditto), people who are no longer in your life, and those who are no longer on this mortal coil.
If you don’t recognize the name of someone in your contacts, Google them or check LinkedIn (is it your mom’s doctor? your mechanic?) and if you still don’t know who it is, you’re obviously not going to be calling or texting them. Worst case scenario, if they text you, you can type back, “New phone, who dis?”
BOX UP YOUR INBOXES
4) Delete (most of) your old voicemails.
How often do you return a call only to hear, “The voicemail box is full and is not accepting messages. Please try again later.” When someone calls you and requests you call them back but their voicemail is full, it’s frustrating because it makes more labor for you.
Do you assume that it’s a cell phone and text them? (I believe texting strangers without permission is a breach of etiquette.) Plan to call back later? Assume that they’ll see the missed call and get back to you, starting another round of phone tag? ARGH!
Dial in to your voicemail and start deleting. Save phone numbers for anyone you’ll need to contact and log anything you may need to follow up on. But unless you’re saving a voicemail for legal purposes or because you can see yourself sitting in an airport, listening to a loved one’s message over and over (cue sappy rom-com music), delete old voicemails.
If you’ve got a landline, clear that voicemail. If you’ve still got an answering machine, how’s the weather in 1997? Yeah, delete old messages.
Smith.ai has a great blog post on how to download important voicemails (from a wide variety of phone platforms) to an audio file. Stop cluttering your voicemail inbox!
5) Clear Your Email Inboxes
Start by sorting your inbox by sender and deleting anything that’s advertising or old newsletters. If you haven’t acted on it by now, free yourself from inbox clutter! Delete! Then conquer email threads, like about picking meeting times (especially if those meetings were in the past).
Take a few minutes at the end of each day to delete a chunk of old emails. To try a bolder approach, check out a classic Paper Doll post from 2009, A Different Kind of Bankruptcy, on how to declare email bankruptcy.
6) Purge all of your other tangible and digital inboxes.
Evernote has a default inbox; if you don’t designate into which folder a saved note should go, your note goes somewhere like Paper Doll‘s Default Folder. Lots of your note-taking and other project apps have default storage that serves as holding pens. Read through what you’ve collected — sort by date and focus on the recent items first — and either file in the right folders or hit delete!
Walk around your house or office and find all the places you tend to plop paper down. Get it in one pile. (Set aside anything you’ll absolutely need in the next few days to safeguard it.) Take 10 minutes a day to purge, sort, and file away those random pieces of paper so that you always know where they are.
HIT THE PAPER TRAIL
7) Embrace being a VIP about your VIPs.
You need your Very Important Papers for all sorts of Very Important Reasons. If the last few years have proven anything, it’s that life is unpredictable, so we need to find ways to make things as predictable and dependable as possible.
Yes, putting together essential paperwork isn’t fun. It’s boring. But you want it to be boring. The more boring your vital documents are, the more it means there will be no surprises for your loved ones in troubling times (like during and after an illness, after a death, while recovering possessions after a natural disaster) or even when you’re just trying to accomplish something like getting on an airplane.
Start with these posts, then make a list of any document you already have (and where it is), and another list of what you need to create, and plan meetings with your family and a trusted advisor to set things in motion.
How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents
How to Create, Organize, and Safeguard 5 Essential Legal and Estate Documents
The Professor and Mary Ann: 8 Other Essential Documents You Need To Create
Paper Doll’s Ultimate Guide to Getting a Document Notarized
Paper Doll’s Ultimate Guide to Legally Changing Your Name
A New VIP: A Form You Didn’t Know You Needed
8) Create your tax prep folder now so you’ll be ready for April 15th.
Do you toss non-urgent mail on top of the microwave? Might those important 1099s and 1098s and 1095-A and W-2s get lost? Don’t lose deductions, pay more taxes, or get in trouble with the IRS!
By the end of January, you’ll start getting tax documents in the mail. Pop them in a folder in your financial files or in a dedicated holder like the Smead All-in-One Income Tax Organizer.
Nothing will get lost and you’ll be able to see your accountant (or get into your tax prep software) sooner, saving time and money (in CPA dollar-hours and tax deductions).
SANITIZE WHAT YOU DIGITIZE
9) Delete the apps you never use.
Yes, really. This is even easier than donating possessions you never use, because you can always re-download the apps if you suddenly need them.
Delete the apps you never use. This is even easier than donating or tossing possessions you never use, because you can always re-download the apps if you suddenly need them. Click To TweetStart with the apps you used the least often (or never). To see the last time you used an app on iOS (for iPhone or iPad), follow this path: Settings>General > iPhone (or iPad) Storage. There are a few different ways to check app usage on Android devices. If you haven’t used an app much, delete it. If you’ve used it TOO much, move the icon to a secondary screen so you’ll be less tempted by it.
10) Unsubscribe to all of those emails trying to sell you stuff.
In August, I bought one thing at Lane Bryant (prompted by my colleague Danielle Carney, who has impeccable taste), but generally, their clothing doesn’t fit me. When I clicked the unsubscribe link, it offered me an option of getting only one email a week. FIB!!! This holiday season, they sent me up to five emails a day!
A pair of eyeglass frames I liked from EyeBuyDirect was out of stock, so I added my name to a list to be notified if they returned to the inventory. In the month afterward, I got at least three emails a day.
Type “unsubscribe” in your email’s search box and you’ll find newsletters and sales emails. Scroll to the bottom to find tiny links to their unsubscribe pages. Don’t be tempted by their scorned romantic partner act. Buy things when you need and want them, not when advertising (and that’s what this email is!) inveigles you to do it! You can always sign up again to get discount codes (and the unsubscribe after your purchase!
Buy things when you need and want them, not when advertising (and that's what this email is!) inveigles you to do it! You can always sign up again to get discount codes (and the unsubscribe after your purchase! Click To Tweet11) Close the browser tabs.
Your hard drive is exhausted by the oodles of tabs you’ve had open for days, weeks, months. Your phone is pooped, too.
Plan time to read your open browser tabs or store them (with a bookmark or in Evernote/OneNote/Notes). If you know you’ll never look at a stored link, why would you look at a perpetually open tab? Read it, or text the link to a friend who will read it and tell all about what you need to know.
And, honestly, close the tabs in your brain. Whether it takes therapy or a good vacation, let go of the ruminations and recriminations that haunted you last year. Ban brain clutter!
PERK UP YOUR PLANNING
12) Pick a planning system that works for you.
Are you a paper person? If you don’t have a planner that will make sure you honor all of your commitments, buy a planner today. Consider these three guidelines:
- You need a month-at-a-glance view. Daily and weekly views don’t offer enough long-range details to let you plan your life over time.
- You need enough space for you to write. Paper planners force people with messy/loopy handwriting to stay within limits but show vital details. Digital calendars tend to hide most of the details until you click through. (Will you always remember to click through?)
- You need ONE planner for your business and personal appointments. If one calendar has your medical appointments and your kids’ schedules, and another has work obligations, you’ll never protect against recitals or games conflicting with your big presentation. (Yes, digital calendars like Google’s have an advantage; with one click, you can layer or remove different calendar views.)
Organizing your life starts with the ability to visualize your time. Stick with any method that works for you, but if digital has come up short for you, going analog will help you see the forest AND the trees.
13) Update every detail in your planner for the entire year.
Filling in January isn’t enough. Assuming you’ll remember that you always have a specific meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month is a recipe for disaster the first time you schedule something when you’re sleepy or cranky or ill.
- Go through last year’s planner and copy over everything that recurs on the same dates (like birthdays and anniversaries).
- Add in the things that happened last year and are already scheduled to happen again, but not on the same dates (like conferences, work retreats, mammograms, medical appointments, etc.).
- Use last year’s calendar to prompt you to make a list of everything you need to schedule or add to your long-range tasks, like setting an sit-down with your CPA or scheduling medical appointments.
14) Refresh your commitment to your planning system…daily.
If you’re so overwhelmed that you forget to check your planner (or to write down appointments in the first place), upgrade your accountability:
- Set an alarm on your phone to ring at around 4:45 p.m. daily to remind you to check your calendar and tickler file for the next day and the coming week.
- Have an assistant? Schedule time each day to review revised appointments and obligations.
- Hold weekly family meetings to make sure every appointment and school pick-up is covered.
- Schedule your next appointments before leaving anyplace you visit intermittently (dentist, massage therapist, hairdresser) — but only if you have your calendar with you. Otherwise, have them follow up. Never agree to any date without your planner nearby.
CONTROL YOUR MONEY, HONEY!
15) Wall off your wallet from clutter.
Clutter in your wallet keeps you from realizing how much money you’re really spending. It’s hard to be intentional if your wallet is full of old receipts, ATM slips, and gift cards you’ve forgotten you own.
Purge, then inventory everything you decide to keep in your wallet. Now gather info on your license, insurance cards, and debit/credit cards. Empty your wallet, and line up your cards in two columns. Either place them on your printer to scan/photo copy them or take a snapshot with your phone; be sure to flip each card over in the same position, and capture the backs. Password-protect the document and keep it safe and handy.
If you have to do multiple sets of columns stacks, you may have too much in your wallet. Consider keeping loyalty cards in your phone’s digital wallet (like Apple Pay) or use stores’ apps. You’ll be able to scan a QR code in lieu of a tangible card.
16) Cash in your coins.
Do you have piles of coins next to your bed, in a jar the laundry room, in your coat pockets, and at the bottom of your bag? It weighs you down (literally) and wastes financial potential. If you’ve got kids, let them roll the coins and take them to the bank, giving them a cut. (Make sure they wash their hands afterwards.) Or, take it to a Coinstar machine or a credit union that accepts counts coins for free.
If you find foreign coins in your pile and you won’t be headed back to that local, donate them to UNICEF’s Change for Good program the next time you fly one of their partner airlines.
17) Get the big picture.
Let 2023 be the year you figure out what’s going on with your money. As your bills and statements come in, make a list of all of your credit cards, loans, and other debts, as well as their balances and interest rates. Seeing it in black and white in one place is the first step toward taking organizing your financial future.
PRESERVE YOUR LEGACY
18) Preserve and secure preserve your photos.
Do you have print photos that would be lost in case of a fire or flood because you don’t have the negatives (or store them with the photos)? Would digital photos on your phone be lost if your phone got smushed or stolen? You need backup!
Contact a NAPO member who specializes in organizing photos, or visit The Photo Managers to find experts who can help you safeguard your photo history.
And because I can’t speak highly enough of it, read What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy by my colleague Hazel Thornton.
I know you don’t want to hear it — but you need to back things up. If your computer crashes (or an asteroid crashes through your roof and right onto your computer), you need to have backups of important stuff of work and life. First read this:
Paper Doll’s Ultimate Stress-Free Backup Plan
If it stresses you out, reach out to a professional organizer who specializes in organizing technology who can walk you through each step.
That takes care of the info as long as you need to access it. But what if your loved ones need to access your digital assets after you’ve reached a higher plane of ascendancy? I’ve got you covered.
Paper Doll Explains Digital Social Legacy Account Management
How to Create Your Apple & Google Legacy Contacts
So far, we’ve hit your paper, your money, your time, and your digital life. But what about YOU? Sometimes, the hardest part of getting organized and productive is getting out of our own way.
20) Declare bankruptcy on clutter debt.
Holding onto something just because you spent money on it, or because it was a gift, or because you feel guilty letting it go doesn’t make it any more valuable or useful; it just ends of costing you time (dusting or caring for it), space (that you could use for more important things), or money (spent on dry-cleaning or storage rental).
Holding onto something just because you spent money on it, or because it was a gift, or because you feel guilty letting it go doesn't make it any more valuable or useful; it just ends of costing you time, space, or money. Free up the… Click To TweetGive yourself permission to declare bankruptcy on the “debt” of clothing that doesn’t fit, unread books and magazines, or charitable contribution requests that aren’t your vibe. Quit clubs you don’t enjoy. Resign from volunteer positions that don’t fulfill you. Whether it’s clutter in your space, schedule, or psyche, declare bankruptcy and move on!
21) Invite support and accountability.
It can be hard to ask for help, but nobody gets to the top of the mountain alone.
- Have a serious talk with your spouse about sharing the load — not just the physical labor, but the mental load, too.
- Be honest with your friends instead of trying to keep up with the Instagram Joneses. Ask for accountability when you’re struggling to fulfill your obligations to yourself. Be accountability partners over phone, text, or Zoom to get tasks done.
- Go virtual for formal accountability. Check out Count on Accountability: 5 Productivity Support Solutions and Flow and Faux (Accountability): Productivity, Focus, and Alex Trebek.
- Hire a professional organizer or productivity expert! Locate a specialist near you (or one who works remotely — more and more of us do that now) by using the NAPO’s search function. You may also want to consult with our colleagues in the Institute for Challenging Disorganization.
We aren’t just experts in organizing stuff, but in helping you figure out how best to organize your ways of thinking and living. As a Certified Professional Organizer®, I guide and support my clients as they surmount obstacles, make difficult decisions, and develop new skills and systems.
22) Take care of yourself.
We’ve talked about the importance of taking breaks as short as 20 seconds and as long as vacations. Revisit Take a Break — How Breaks Improve Health and Productivity and Take a Break for Productivity — The International Perspective to get some ideas on how to prevent burnout.
Then check out The Good Trade‘s 99 Inexpensive Self-Care Ideas For Your New Year.
23) Figure out what you want to do once you feel more organized and productive.
In Toss Old Socks, Pack Away 2023, and Adjust Your Attitude for 2024, I got you started on ways to do your annual review and figure out what you want your life to look like. I used Bing Image Creator to help me design a photo representing something I ultimately want — brunch in Tuscany!
These 99 Reflection Questions To Ask Yourself For Personal Growth (also from The Good Trade) range from daily self-checkins to incredible (and life-affirming) stretches. If you read only one (non-Paper Doll) reference in this post, let it be this one.
24) Let go of the need to be perfect.
Being organized isn’t about aesthetics. Being productive isn’t about doing more things. It’s all about making life easier.
Drop-kick the guilt and negative self-talk. Living rooms in home and garden magazines aren’t real — those rooms were specially designed and curated to look “perfect.” Supermodels on magazine covers are airbrushed and photoshopped. The colleague who got the corner office may have three week’s of unwashed dishes in their kitchen sinks, or might have stayed up all night to finish that presentation. Stop comparing your life to everyone else’s highlight reels.
I’m not a sports person. I call basketball “squeaky floor ball.” However, I’ve been fascinated by Giannis Antetokounmpo ever since I saw him interviewed on 60 Minutes. The wisdom this young man applies to sports is exactly how I hope you’ll think of your approach to getting organized and being more productive.
GO Month is about getting organized, step-by step. You have the rest of 2024 to work on staying organized.
Paper Doll Post:
Oh, what a good list! I plan to revisit every single item in the coming days and weeks. The ones that stood out for me just now, though were: 1) “It’s a holiday message, not a historical document; you don’t transcribe your holiday phone conversations and keep them forever, right?” (I think this same thing often when it comes to emails — most of them are just conversations that don’t need to be saved. But sometimes I’m still not ready to part with them until some time has passed.) 2) OF COURSE I loved that you plugged my book (again) in #18!!! Thank you for your continued support. 3) Never heard of Giannis Antetokounmpo, but I think I love him. Happy New Year, Julie!
I tried to find the full 60 Minutes segment, because Giannis (the call him the Greek Freek) is so charming. He’d fit right in on Ted Lasso! I was able to find the transcript of that episode: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/giannis-antetokounmpo-the-milwaukee-bucks-greek-freak-60-minutes/
I’m glad you liked the list. When a client is struggling whether to keep a card or a note, I often use that “transcript” notion.
Happy New Year, Hazel!
There are so many excellent paths to choose from! And any one of the suggestions you offered will absolutely enhance 2024! In moving forward, it’s always good to clear the path of those things that might be holding us back- extra apps, “clutter debt,” jars of coins waiting to be rolled and routed, and more things to refine or let go of.
I don’t typically do this, but after reading your suggestion to delete extra apps, I paused mid-read to do just that. I deleted about 10 apps I never or rarely use.
This past weekend, my husband brought his coins (which he’d been collecting for over a year) to the market to exchange for a cash coupon. At first, he didn’t want to use the machine because of the fees. However, I said that for the minimal amount they charged for the ‘service,’ it was worth having it done. Otherwise, we would have had to take the coins back home, roll them, and make a trip to the bank to exchange them for dollar bills. The time didn’t seem worth the $6 it cost us to have the machine accomplish the task in less than 5 minutes.
I love the concept of “clutter debt” and how it’s worth evaluating the cost of keeping things you no longer want, are not useful, and have overstayed their welcome. The mental and physical energy needed to keep them, along with the space they take up, is not worth postponing those decisions.
Sending you BIG Happy New Year hugs, love, and good wishes!!!!
Hurray for deleting those extra apps! I really do feel that this is a win-win because you can always reverse course. The phone gives you that warning that you could lose your data, but of course almost no apps keep your data in your phone, but in the cloud for the account, which is why most accounts can be accessible on devices AND computers. I may never use Notes or Facebook on my phone, but deleting the app doesn’t impact the data at all.
Hurray for your husband for getting rid of all of those coins in a way that benefits your home and his wallet!
Happy New Year to you, too, my friend and the very first Ultimate Star Blogger!
I like the idea of having a list of suggested goals to get clutter under control. The problem with being asked to set goals in isolation is that the enormity of everything that needs to be done makes it overwhelming and difficult to break down into individual goals.
This list reflects manageable tasks, maybe not one a day, but a couple a week to work through gradually towards decluttering.
My personal bugaboo is the holiday photo cards. I have family members who like clockwork every year send me the latest photos of their kids – WHOM I’VE NEVER EVEN MET.
It’s why I send e-cards, my annual reminder to various folks that I still exist, so email me back if you’d like to catch up or hit delete if not. (Not a plug, but I like PaperlessPost).
Thank you so much for reading and sharing. Yes, I think that people are overwhelmed by their options. That’s one of reasons I wrote the post on December 18th, about setting intentions through a themed word, phrase, or song. Instead of trying to do it all, pick something that resonates with that theme! (There really is a through-line on my blog posts.)
As for cards, I’m a fan of whatever keeps true connection between people. I’m glad you’re reminding people you still exist. A card with a photo is pleasant, if environmentally unsound, but I have a colleague (shoutout, Janice Simon!) who sends an absolutely amazing annual holiday newsletter, with real news about her year, information (and photos) of family and friends I don’t know, but her stories are delightful, and then a whole section of the books, movies, TV, and music that pleased her in the preceding year. Now that’s worth keeping — until I’ve copied all of the recommendations to my “want to” lists.
And oh, Rajni, I’ll see you on Zoom on Saturday…once I wake up!
It feels like fewer of my friends are sending annual newsletter updates, that seemed to be a big thing back in the day and I miss them.
Re: the photo cards, I think I’d mind less if folks just sent them via email, it’s the whole “designing and printing the card and then mailing it just for me to toss it immediately in the bin because what on earth else am I going to do with this” thing that bugs.
Absolutely will talk on Saturday!
What a wonderful list. Yes it’s a big task to do, makes you wonder, how did our parents and ancestors take care and preserve all what they owned? Without the digital world and computers and apps, it seems impossible. We can do it, if we don’t procrastinate and not let our papers and cards and photos pile in bins and apps, separate everything from the beginning and send it to the right place.
Thank you for the detailed list, I will make sure to come back to it.
I think there was a lot less to have and keep track of. You didn’t have much in the way of “accounts” or even account numbers. You were just your name until the invention of Social Security in 1935, and it really didn’t start being used outside of Social Security for identification for other things until the 1960s or 1970s. Even my grandparents, 3 of four of whom were born in the 19th century, didn’t have cameras. Legacies were saved letters, maybe a few certificates or awards.
It’s like clothing or toys. Before the 1950s, people didn’t have a lot of clothing; now we have “fast fashion.” My father, a Depression-era baby, was an only child, and his childhood friends recall that he was the child who had “the ball.” Most kids had a handful of toys to play with, not a room-full.
We HAVE more stuff, and in more realms (digital and tangible), with more societal obligations (from work to checking phone and email and real inboxes), so it takes more energy. We need to tackle it step-by-step!
Confession: I didn’t read your post the first time I read it because there’s just SO MUCH here! I’m really glad I came back though, because many of these things are already on my radar, so your tips and resources will be helpful, and because you’ve suggested things I never even thought of!
As you confessed, you are absolved of your blog-reading sins. 😉
Thank you for your kind words, and I hope your year, which I’m sure is already very organized, will be more so! Happy 2024!
Wow, I better get busy!
First off, yes! yes! yes! to the purging of holiday cards. You don’t need to keep these, especially stacks of those sent by others. They were a greeting. Mission accomplished.
Not sure I will ever get rid of all my emails, but I do like using a separate email for all my shopping. This keeps that spammy stuff out of my primary email, which actually is a big help.
I’m laughing about closing all the tabs. My husband always tells me to do this. If anything goes wrong with my computer, his first idea is to close all my tabs. But this is how my brain works. I like having them open.
I’m happy to say that my daughter and I made some progress on the digital legacy topic. She has an interest in ancestry, and so we looked at albums together when we visited my parents over the holiday. I was able to tell her stories, and she took photos of the photos to have for her own records. The quality of many of them is quite poor, so I thought it was nice that she captured them before they fade even further.
Happy New Year!
LOL, I think for 2025, I may have to divide it in to 2 posts (or maybe 5 posts of five)? Why, when I think I’m going to write a short, snappy post, do I still have so much to say?
A separate email address for shopping definitely makes sense, and it helps keep your regular email address from getting “contaminated” with other info.
I always have at least two browsers open, Safari and Chrome. I like keeping the things I use 20 times a day in open tabs. But it uses a lot of computer resources and energy. The same with our overworked brains!
My experience with Jiffy Page at PIxorium, a NAPO-GA business partner/member, is that it’s possible to return old photos to their former glory. I bet if there are special memories you want to preserve, you can get those photos improved. (That’s a question for a photo organizing specialists, for sure!)
Happy 2024!