It’s Time to Reset Your Home for 2018: Let’s Kick Off the January Cure!

Happy New Year! It’s always amazing to me what a boost your mind and body can get — in the form of renewed energy, motivation, and focus — by seeing the calendar reset at January each year. It’s the perfect time to make a fresh start, which includes getting your home primed for the year ahead. Because who doesn’t want a home that works better and looks better, too?

Although trying to get your home organized and under control feels like a giant task, we’ve managed to make it doable year after year by breaking it up into small, one-a-day assignments that we package up for you in the form of the January Cure.

If you’re new to the Cure, welcome! (Make sure you’re signed up for emails so you’re always on top of the daily task.) And if you’re a tried and true Cure’er, welcome back! Today’s inaugural assignment is a quick one that’ll leave you with a clean drawer and a ton of confidence to carry you into the month.

Choose a drawer anywhere in your home and clean it out.

The drawer you pick (and how much work it needs) is totally up to you. Maybe you want to tidy up your messy makeup drawer or the catch-all drawer in your nightstand. Or maybe it’s the dresser drawer that’s overrun by too many socks or a menagerie of worn out gym clothes. Just pick one and get started on it.

Empty the whole thing out onto the counter or the floor and work through the stuff inside. Throw out anything that needs to be tossed into the trash can or recycling bin, and save anything that you’d like to pass on or donate into a separate shopping bag for now (we’ll handle it later). And anything that doesn’t really belong in that drawer? Move it to where it does have a home.

Take the now-empty drawer and give the inside a quick wipe-down before putting everything you want to keep back inside. Done!

The goal for today’s assignment isn’t just to end up with a tidy drawer, it’s also to recognize how doable — and quick — it can be to tackle one small task in the name of a better home. If you really want to drive the lesson home, set a timer before you dig in on the drawer tonight. You’ll see how much 10 minutes can really do for your home and for your happiness.

Then, make a pact with yourself to start over with a new drawer on a regular basis moving forward (one a week or one a month — it’s up to you! no rush). You’ll find that this chore gets faster and easier over time, until you’re just the sort of person who has always-tidy drawers.

But for now, one is enough. Stop here and get ready for day two tomorrow. But first: Share your progress with us in the comments (the best part of the Cure is the camaraderie). What drawer did you choose and how did it go?