Hello Friends! I’m so excited to re-introduce The Organize and Refine Your Home Challenge!
My goal with this year-long challenge is to serve as your guide as we organize, simplify, declutter, and streamline our households together. Whether your home needs some minor tweaking or a major reset, I invite you to join me on the journey to home refinement!
Each month, we’ll focus on a particular space in your home or on a specific organizing project. Similar to previous organizing and decluttering challenges, each monthly project will be broken down into a series of weekly assignments.
I’ll provide several resources to help you along and keep you motivated, including:
- monthly assignment checklists to help you keep track of your assignment progress
- printable worksheets and checklists to help you stay organized
- accountability check-in opportunities via Instagram
Preparation is the Key to Success
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. To optimize your success with any organizing challenge, your success hinges on 3 key preparation tasks:
1. Know Your “Why”
It’s vital to write down (yes, write it down) your reasons for getting organized.
Think about what your goals are for the end of this year. How will your refined home look and function? How will you feel when you walk through the door? What will you do with the extra time you’ll have when you no longer have to hunt for your keys?
Write down your vision for your organized home. You’ll need to refer to it when your motivation begins to wane in the coming months.
2. Build in Accountability
Whether you find a buddy to complete the challenge with, or simply commit to reporting your progress via Instagram on a weekly basis, you need to figure out what your system for accountability will be.
The success of Weight Watchers is built on having to step on that scale each week. What will be your “scale” for the Challenge?
Post photos of your completed projects on Instagram to share your success stories and obstacles (using the hashtag #ORGANIZEANDREFINECHALLENGE) along with other Challenge participants.
3. Schedule Time to Complete Challenge Assignments
Simply put, if you don’t set aside time to devote to the assignments, they will not get done.
I sound like a broken record by now, but I urge you to schedule weekly appointments in your calendar for the Challenge. The length and number of appointments will vary, depending on the monthly project.
Once you know the area we’ll be tackling during a given month, do your best to determine how much time you’ll need to set aside for that area/project.
Oh yeah…keep your appointments.
Be sure to bookmark this post so that you can easily access your Organize and Refine Your Home Challenge assignments for each month. Better yet — sign up to automatically receive the monthly Challenge assignments in your email inbox.
January – Foundations of an Organized Home
February – Home Office
March – Closets
April – Kitchen
May – Garage
June – Print Photos
July – Computer
August – Routines
September – Going Paperless
- Going Paperless 101: The Basics
- Your Paperless Workflow: Organizing Digital Documents
- 6 Ways to Go Paperless in the Home Office
- 3 Ways to Go Paperless in the Kitchen
October – OFF
November – Holidays
December – Finances
Leave a comment below to let me know that you’re up for the Challenge!
Love a good organizing challenge? Be sure to check out my other organizing challenges:
Donna @ Modern on Monticello says
Love this idea and I’m glad you are re-sharing it on our link party #HomeMattersParty. I have signed up under my personal email and can’t wait to see what you have planned and to challenge myself to participate.
Natalie Gallagher says
Excellent Donna! You’ll receive a monthly email with that month’s organizing assignments. Welcome aboard!
Ann says
What a great way to get everyone motivated! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ’s.
Lauren Huggins says
Just found your page. train wreck here too. Can I really start anywhere or do you build on areas from month to month. thank you.
Natalie Gallagher says
Hey Lauren,
My only word of advice is to begin with the January assignment, in order to put a good foundation in place. After that, the assignments are really independent of one another. Some of the projects align optimally with the month they are associated with (e.g., home office organization aligned with tax season in February, routines aligning with back-to-school time in August, holiday organization in November). But for the most part, you can tackle any of the projects in any month of the year.
Trish says
I would love to join this challenge. When does it start?
Natalie Gallagher says
The Challenge is self-paced. You can start at any time. There are specific assignments for each month of the year. You can either begin by completing the challenge tasks associated with the month we’re currently in, or browse through the Challenge topic areas to find assignments to tackle your current “hot spot”.
Lynn says
Yes, please! I’ve tried other challenges and they’ve been overwhelming for me, too fast or just not enough. Excited!
Natalie Gallagher says
Yey Lynn!
Heidi says
Great challenge and I love that you have broken it down with a little each month. Also, the tracking sheets are an awesome way to stay organized and check off things completed! Thanks for sharing this on Funtastic Friday!
Natalie Gallagher says
Thanks for the great feedback Heidi~
Brenda says
Hi! I’m a late comer, but I’m in! My house is a wreck. In the last 4 years I’ve had major health issues, large number of family members move in and out, kids moving out and in, and then a traumatic brain injury (just because life wasn’t hectic enough).
I’m not only late, but the weekly challenges will likely take me longer than the usual person (due to health and brain), but I’m starting today! Thank you for doing this!
Natalie Gallagher says
Welcome to the Challenge Brenda! So glad you are joining us! Like I used to tell my clients and tell other readers…you didn’t accumulate the clutter overnight, so give yourself grace when it comes to digging yourself out! Don’t feel badly if you can’t complete all of the tasks assigned each week. Just download the monthly checklist and keep track of what you have and haven’t completed. That way, you’ll be able to go back to those unfinished tasks as time allows.
Hazel Thornton says
My favorite part of this challenge is “Know Your Why”. It really is important to have a vision of what you’re working toward!
Natalie Gallagher says
Absolutely Hazel…as with all of our goals in life, right?
Autumn Leopold says
I’m totally in but I can’t start until next Thursday after my webinars! lol So I’ll have to play catch up! You should let us post some before pictures on your FB page! lol SCARY!
Natalie Gallagher says
Actually, I’ll welcome “Before” pics on the FB page. That will make the “After” photos even more impressive! Don’t worry about playing catch up…I’m easing people in this week with a relatively easy set of assignments 🙂
Karen says
Looking forward to getting my house in order! I am up for the challenge!
Natalie Gallagher says
Karen, So glad to have you on board!
Karen says
I am up for this challenge! Looking forward to getting my house in order!
Natalie Gallagher says
Yey! Thanks for joining!
Ellen Delap says
Well done! A challenge gets everyone moving!
Natalie Gallagher says
I have definitely found that to be the case Ellen!
Sabrina Quairoli says
Good luck on the organizing challenges. I am looking forward to the challenges. I love that you included a hashtag on Instagram. Great idea!
Natalie Gallagher says
Glad to have you along Sabrina! I’m new to Instagram so there’s a bit of a learning curve for me there. Hopefully, it will be a great resource for spreading the word about the Challenge!
Lauren at Upstate Clutter Coach says
I LOVE this idea! I was just listening to a mastermind podcast earlier today about this same concept. It’s going to be fabulous! Well done!
Natalie Gallagher says
My readers love organizing challenges and what better month to dig in, right?
Janet Barclay says
Wow, this sounds like big but rewarding project, both for you as a blogger and for those who decide to take part in the challenge. I’ll be following with great interest.
Natalie Gallagher says
Yes, the Challenge is comprehensive, but we are tackling a series of one bite-size project at a time throughout the year so that it won’t be overwhelming. Thanks for being a regular reader Janet!