Back when I was a co-host of The Digi Show podcast, I mentioned that the last week of the year is one of my favorite times. The other hosts were very surprised by this! I think many people have some letdown after Christmas and feel a little lost in the space between holidays. Both my husband and I have learned to cherish this time. He usually takes the week off from work and we both focus on getting set up for the new year.

from the New Year Printables Pack

Here are some of the things we focus on during this week:

Reviewing our calendars and adding events, travel, etc.

I feel like this is one of the most important tasks I can do to set myself up for a successful year. When my time is organized, I have more opportunities and energy for creative fun!

This time it will be a little different as we don’t have many events coming up and are not yet planning travel. We are waiting to see what happens with the virus and vaccines. I will mainly be focusing on my creative calendar at this time and planning my blog content, design releases, and social media posts. If you use a paper or digital planner, this is a great time to set it up for the coming year.

Tools I use:

• Outlook calendar - The main reason I started using Google calendar was so my husband and I could send each other events as he uses Outlook through work. If it was up to me, I would use Google calendar for everything.

• Google calendar - I share a calendar with my daughter and another one with my parents. I sync these calendars to my outlook calendar so I can see everything in one place.

• Momento App - I use this to keep track of all my social media and calendar feeds. It acts as a collection device for me. This coming year, I want to add daily journaling to the app to keep better track of what is happening each day. Day One is another great app for this as well and I’ve seen many people recommend it. I’m pleased with Momento so I’m sticking with that. Th

• In the past, I have used a Happy Planner and it’s really a fun and creative way to keep track of daily life.

• My calendar cards - I use these on monthly roundup layouts. You can also print them out for your paper planner or import them into a digital planner. I’ve already put one together for January using one of my LEGO photos from a few years ago.

Calendar cards stamp overlays + brushes

There are a lot of ways to use and prep calendars. I suggest just finding what works best for you and then commit to stick with it!

Refresh workspaces and storage spaces

We clean out our desk drawers and wipe down our work surfaces. This is also a great time to clean computer and device screens using lint-free cloths. Wipe down keyboards. Sweep and vacuum around your work area. Tidy up supplies and take inventory of what you need. If you are a crafter or hobbyist, spend some time sorting through older and in-progress projects. I personally have boxes of old photos, memorabilia, and paper scrapbook pages that I hope to tackle in the coming year. This isn’t the time to go through all of those - I just want to make sure I know where they are and that they are in some accessible containers or cupboards. This is just prep time for future projects, not the time to actually do them.

Sort through personal belongings

We don’t organize the entire house during this time, but we do each sort through our personal belongings. We clean out wallets. I clean out my purse. My husband organizes his backpack, although he may not need to do that right now since he is working from home. We go through our bathroom drawers and make a brief run through our closet. Again, it’s not spring cleaning. It’s just a refresh. It’s also a great exercise to do as we put away holiday gifts we have received. We have a bin in our garage for donations so we place items there for a later dropoff. We order supplies that we need from online or local stores.

This may not seem like prep work for a creative year, but I firmly believe the mind is more open to good things when it isn’t bogged down in the tiny details of keeping everyday life running smooth.

You can certainly involve kids in all of this. I wouldn’t call it “cleaning” or even “organizing” if they are resistant to such ideas. Just set the example for them by telling them how much you enjoy getting all set up for the new year and offer to help them do the same. They will probably think it’s especially cool if they get to order some new supplies for their schooling or some new shampoo for their shower.

However you are spending the final week of 2020, I hope you are staying healthy, happy, and safe!