The first month of a new year and for many a fresh start. The middle month of winter, dark nights and low temperatures allow us to snuggle down and make plans for the coming months.
Here are our top tips to make the most of being organised this month.
What to do this month
1. Set your goals for the year
Traditionally January is the month to start our new year resolutions and whilst these often focus on implementing new regimes aimed at health and well-being, the nature of imposing restrictions often means we break our plans before we really get going. Which is why setting goals is a better way to re-frame those old school resolutions, allowing you to imagine the ideal year ahead and plan for how to achieve your dreams.
Goals can be health orientated such as taking up a new form of fitness you’ve always fancied, interest based exploring a new cooking cuisine or socially motivated getting your girlfriends organised to commit to a dream weekend away.
The best way to make sure you achieve your goals are writing them down in order or priority and making sure your list is pinned up somewhere prominent allowing you to spend time every week making arrangements towards your goals.
2. Prep your beauty bag and be ready to go
Did you travel over the Christmas period or perhaps last autumn was the last time you ventured away from home. Give your future self a gift and spend time this month prepping your beauty bag for your next trip.
Start off by cleaning your beauty bag to make sure it’s hygienic and will enjoy a long life. We have created 5 Simple Steps to Deep Clean your Beauty Bag to make sure you know the best way to clean any wash bag or makeup bag. Make sure you sort through your toiletries and cosmetics to ensure nothing is out of date, ditching anything past it’s sell by date or damaged.
The final step is to re-stock your beauty bag. Buy luxe body washes and hair products to add to your wash bags. Our top tip – download our Packing Check List, print off a few copies and store with your newly cleaned beauty bag – your future self will love you for this.
3. Organise all last year's photos
We are all guilty of snapping away on our phones and allowing unedited streams of images to load on the cloud. Set aside time on January to organise last years photos so you can enjoy the memories you have captured. Start with deleting all those out of focus and duplicate pics, deciding which images are the best to capture any event – less is often more in this situation. As you go, create and organise monthly folders, filing your images as you go.
Our top tip is to add in any special events to the name of the monthly folder to allow you to find easily in the future i.e., October_Johns 50th Birthday
File all the monthly folders in a year folder and repeat year after year to remain organised. When you have finished the year, consider creating a yearbook using an online digital book creator, after all who doesn’t love to flick through a photo album with a cuppa on the sofa.
4. Stock up on a present drawer
Arguably the thing that makes us feel most organised…. a drawer which delivers every occasion at short notice! Stock up on greeting cards with a selection of birthday cards, good luck cards and general cards suitable for a variety of events. Add in some notelets for when you want to reach for a handwritten note and don’t forget the wrapping paper, gift tags and gift bags.
With the basics in the bag, shop for some gifts for your drawer. Great gifts to include are scented candles, luxe socks, artisan ceramics or our top tip, some makeup bags. Take the opportunity to snap up some Victoria Green makeup bags with free delivery and get your present drawer off to the perfect start. Always a welcome gift for your best friend, mum, aunty or work colleague, pop a lip balm in their new makeup bag for a thoughtful and special present.
5. Give your repair pile some TLC
With the run up to Christmas so busy we often stockpile a number of items in need of some TLC so January is the perfect time to address these bits. Electrical items, such as lamps or headphones, are the perfect projects for your local repair café if you don’t have the tools or know-how to fix yourself. Ask on social media to find out where your nearest café is as they often pop up in the community throughout the year.
Broken jewellery is wasted when lurking in the corner of a jewellery box. Look out any pieces which need the clasp fixed, a stretched chain replaced, or links put back together and put in a small plastic bag in your purse whilst scheduling a reminder on your phone to drop at your local jewellers.
Holes in your knitwear? Tears in your jeans? Get on board with the trend for visible mending and bring back worn pieces to life with an injection of one-off style.
