A new year and with that I’m definitely feeling the need to make changes. They’re coming fast and furious. I love to make changes – my problem is sticking with them. I know I’m not alone in this. I picked up a great book at the library yesterday “Better Than Before” by Gretchen Rubin. (Sidenote, I love her and her podcast Happier). I’ve devoured half the book already and am finding so many really good insights into creating habits. My favourite so far is her take that before starting to adopt many new habits we should start with the four tendencies. These are, Eating Healthy, Exercise, Staying Uncluttered and getting enough sleep. If you can master the habit of these than other habits are easier to come by. Makes sense doesn’t it? I can get back on the exercise and eating better train – it takes effort but I know how to do it for myself (more on that in another post), and sleep is something I covet dearly. I try never to sacrifice it. My downfall is the clutter – oh the clutter. I really struggle with maintaining order. I can clear out a room, organize, clean top to bottom, no problem – but then I do nothing for months and well, you can imagine that doesn’t end well. I need the habit of daily tidying, clutter pick up, organization. I want this not only for me but my kids. Gretchen has a great saying ‘Outer Order Inner Calm’. I know intellectually this is the best way to live for me and my family. I love a clean, tidy and organized room and when I have one I do feel more calm, less stressed, less anxious and ready to tackle anything. The struggle is reminding myself and getting in the habit. You see, I could see a piece of garbage on the counter and pass it multiple times a day and not throw it out. I would eventually but I don’t have that innate need to do it as some other people seem to. So for January I’m tackling a couple of things in order to adopt this good habit.

1. Keep the sink empty.

This is a family one. The sink must stay empty. So no dirty dishes, no cups, nothing. Either wash it right away or put it in the dishwasher. You guys I know some of you are like ‘Hello, I do this all the time’ but we don’t.

2. Make beds every day.

Again, I’m sure many of you do this every day and I do it half the time but I want to start the day by doing it all the time. It feels like a promise to myself to keep trying for the rest of the day.

3. Pick one thing a day to clean/organize.

Doesn’t need to be a big project. It could take 15 min (which is my preferred method for anything house-related. Doing it in small increments makes it seem more doable) but just do SOMETHING. Today I tidied my office and look, now I’m sitting in a nice space with a cup of tea actually writing a blog post which I never do…seems to be working!

The below session is from a sweet family I photographed right before Christmas. I did their newborn photos and then followed up a week later with an extended family session which I’ll share in another post. I hope every one is off to a good start to the year!

– Virginia