If you have set yourself some New Year’s resolutions, you probably also know that you are going to have some weaker days. Days where you might bring more clutter into the house, days where you won’t want to deal with any of your household tasks, days where you are not motivated in the least to work towards your goals, days where you might just want to do NOTHING!

A great idea for your own productivity towards your goals or daily habits is to create a plan for when you are having a weaker day.

If you have a decluttering goal of getting one drawer or shelf done every day, you need to prep for the days where a social engagement comes up, you get sick, or you just can’t seem to motivate yourself at all! Sometimes, you just won’t be able to work on your decluttering. That’s ok! Create a plan for it.

Make an ‘easy-do’ list!

Make a list of smaller or less time-consuming decluttering projects.

Have a tiny drawer by the front door? Add that to your list. It may not be a bigger shelf or drawer like you want to do, but if you have low energy or limited time, it might be just the thing to keep you feeling great about your progress every day.

If you’re sick and in bed, maybe you simply put one thing away each time you go into the bathroom or kitchen to get things you need, like medicine or fluids.

Even on days where your energy is super low, or you feel like you have no time, carve off just five minutes to keep working towards your goal.

Have a list of your normal sized projects for when you are feeling motivated and ready to take on the challenge. But also keep your easy-do list handy. You’d be surprised how many things you can still put on that list and continue to work towards the overall goal, but they don’t require nearly as much energy or time.

Try your best to never actually miss more than two days in a row when you’re working towards your goal. I always find that if I miss three or four days in a row, it’s so much harder to get back into the routine. Even if I was going good guns for weeks! It’s so weird and frustrating! It’s what I love about that easy-do list. Even on days where I truly feel like I can not accomplish anything, I have a quick read through that list, and I can find at least one thing to do.

It can be super basic and almost painfully simple – like hang up your coat, or put your keys on the hook – but at least it’s still something when you may have otherwise just come home, dumped everything and sat down or napped through the day!

Be forgiving of yourself as you create your list and see what kinds of things you can add. Remember, this list is for those days where you truly believe you can’t get anything done; no time, no energy, no motivation! Don’t get too carried away. But add enough variety of things to do that something will spark a little tiny amount of energy for you to muster up!

This year think about progress. Nothing else matters and every little bit counts!

Thanks for coming home!