Entryway Clutter - Solution

My project this past weekend was to figure out a solution to all the clutter in our entryway.  I was tired of walking into chaos when I came home. I'm not sure if I have the complete solution yet, but I was able to make some progress on the mess.

After researching some online, I was able to come up with a new storage bench for the entryway. This meant a trip to IKEA.  I had to tell myself before going into the store that I was only going in for the supplies for the bench, NOTHING MORE!  Otherwise, I could have come home with plenty more!

I purchased a Kallax shelf in black/brown.  I have a two tiered shelf exactly like this that I use for our tv stand in the living room so I wanted to get the same color so eventually when we move into our "someday" house they would be able to be used in the same room and match.  I also purchased a set of Capita legs so that when I put the shelf on its side I could add a little height to the bench.  They are usually used for the kitchen cabinets at IKEA but I figured they should work for the shelf too.  I thought about getting baskets for the shelves but wasn't sure how the baskets would hold up so I instead got two drawer inserts and two door inserts for the openings.

After clearing out the entryway completed, I set out to put everything together.  That's the bad thing about IKEA, assembly required.  I was able to put together the shelf completely by myself but when it came to the drawers and doors, I required help from the hubby.  A few hours of cleaning and assembly but now its complete.  Eventually I would like to add a cushion to the top but in the meantime I just added a blanket and a basket for our keys.

I recruited the girls to help me fill the drawers and doors, hoping that would help with them taking ownership of it and wanting to keep it organized.  They each picked a drawer to store their hats and gloves in and picked drawers for mom and dad too.  The two shelves with the doors are reserved for the girls' shoes.  

Putting these things into the bench opened up more space in the small closet in the entryway, so all of the hubby's shoes fit in there along with all the snow boots.  I keep all of my shoes in an over-the-door shoe organizer in our bedroom.

When I cleared out the space, I was also able to clean out all the spring coats and sweatshirts that had accumulated in the entryway over time. I put the coats in storage and the sweatshirts back where they belong.

Two days into the new space and its still clutter free.  We'll have to see if that is still the case a week from now!  Here's hoping!

Entryway Clutter

Now that the cold weather has started to show up…so has more clutter in our entryway!  Winter coats, snow pants, boots, gloves, scarves, etc.  Along with all of that there are still some fall jackets, sweatshirts, rain boots and tons of shoes.  It never seems like this area of the house can stay clean for more than a day or two.  Some mornings it’s a struggle to find shoes or that hat that I know my daughter wore home yesterday from school and is now nowhere to be found!  Other times you are tripping your way over multiple shoes that have stacked up during the week.  It’s frustrating when you walk into your house and the first thing you see is chaos and clutter!

One small corner of our clutter...

My project for over the Thanksgiving weekend is to figure out ways to improve this area.  Maybe you can help?  What tips, tricks or furniture do you use in your entryway/mudroom to keep it organized?  Comment here or on my Facebook post!

Basement Disaster II - Update

I promised an update on my basement project at the end of October. I’m a little late, but better late than never right?

I am definitely glad that I shared what I wanted to get accomplished in the basement because without doing that, I don't think I would have been motivated to do it on my own.  Sharing certainly motivates me to get results. 

So the last few weeks of October consisted of:

•           a half full dumpster,
•           two car loads full of donations,
•           six new Rubbermaid totes, filled and organized,
•           a clear floor,
•           a clear ping pong table (not sure the last time we were able to say that),
•           and an organized sewing area.

The one thing that still needs to get figured out… how/where to store the new totes.  Unfortunately they don’t fit in our existing shelves so I’m going to have to get creative.  But for the most part it is done! 

What were you able to accomplish this month?

Basement Disaster - Step Two

Last November I started working on cleaning up the basement (read about it here). I was able to reorganize the laundry area… which by the way has been working great. Since then I haven’t had much of a chance to work on the basement and I would like to get more done before an entire year has gone past!

I am setting a goal of at least cleaning out all the junk in the basement.  With no closets in the house, the basement tends to be the dumping ground for anything and everything that we don't know what to do with.   Along with cleaning out all the junk I hope to get the sewing area organized as well as our storage shelves.  Organization is desperately needed in our basement!

I am hoping to finish by the end of October so watch for an update!  And remember, the reason why I share these things is so that I am accountable to someone else to get these things done.  So if you see me, ask me how its going or if I've made progress.

"Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results."

In the meantime, I challenge you to take one area of your house and declutter and organize it .  What area are you going to work on?

Improvements

Sometimes once you've organized something you don't give it a second thought. 

Last year before school started we started setting out our clothes for the week on Sunday nights. (Click here to read about it.) It's been working great; however, we have limited hanging space in the girls room so we've run out of room.  Another downfall of a house with no closets!  I've been getting frustrated with it but really hadn't done anything about it.

Then a few weeks ago, a friend showed me a new idea for how to set out clothes for the week and I decided I would give it a try!  So...instead of hanging the clothes for the week, I purchased two three drawer carts for the girls to put their clothes in.  I labeled each drawer with a day of the week (M-F) and left the sixth one blank for now.   

Last night the girls and I loaded up the drawers with their outfits for the week and it worked great.  The added bonus of the drawers is that they can put their socks and undergarments in the drawers too, so they only have to go to one place in the morning to get everything they need.   

Here are the drawers set up in our kitchen after we added the labels.
They now are in the girls room filled for the week.

What have you been organizing lately?  Or what have you previously organized that could be improved upon?

Storage Solution

It has been a long time since I have posted anything to this blog about organizing.  It seems like my summer has been crazy and has been going by too fast.  The next couple of weeks, my girls are visiting their grandparents so I will have a little bit more time to get some stuff done around the house.

At the end of the last school year, I had posted about the chaos that surrounds all the girls’ special papers (school papers, report cards, art projects, etc).  I have finally found a solution!  Hopefully this one with work long term, unlike the original idea (click here to read about it). 

I recently found and purchased some x-large file tote boxes and hanging file folders (from my favorite store - The Container Store)! The file box is big enough to store some of the odd sized art projects as well.   I got one for each girl.  I put hanging file folders in each box, using one (possibly this will change to two) hanging file folders for each year of school! 

This morning I went through the dreaded task of sorting out all the papers we currently had for the girls.  This was probably the most time consuming part because as you’re going through everything, memories of those times come back as well.  I probably lingered on this step a little longer than necessary!

And here is the finished product!  I am so happy that this is done!  Going forward it will be soooo much easier to save special papers.  No more overstuffed accordion file or basket overflowing with papers!  A small victory in the Kastenbauer house!

I also purchased the same file tote box for my stepson’s keepsakes.  We have a lot of his stuff that was just stored in cardboard boxes.  Finally, somewhere to properly store them in until he wants them someday.

End of the School Year

Last Thursday was the last day of 1st grade for my oldest daughter!  I can't believe she's already a 2nd grader! It all goes way too fast!

Before my daughter started Kindergarten I bought her an accordion file to keep her important papers together.  I thought it was cute and it would help me to organize and keep her special papers throughout school.   

Ours is similar to this except my daughters name is printed on it.

It was a great idea but the folder just doesn’t work for us.  I should have thought it through a little bit better before I bought it. 

Why it doesn’t work

• So far we have two years of “special” papers and drawings and it’s already full.  It is an accordion file but it doesn’t really expand that well.
• There is no cover which means things are curling and fading.

Picture is not of my actually file, but you can see how not a lot fits in them.

I am determined to figure out a better way to store these treasures so I can have them to display someday at her graduation or later on in life she can look back and revisit a little bit of her childhood.

My goal is to have a storage system in place before the start of the next school year.  What has worked for you?

5k Complete!

Last weekend I completed my first 5k.  I originally signed up for it so that I would be motivated to work out.  It worked.  I definitely worked out more than I would have if I didn’t have that goal in sight.  And by letting people know that I signed up for it I was more accountable.  But now that it’s over I feel like I may struggle with being motivated to continue to work out. 

Lucky for me, it just so happens that my work is sponsoring employees that want to take part in a Financial Literacy 5k (July 11) that is run by Minnesota Credit Union Foundation.  So this week I registered.  I’m hoping it will motivate me to continue to work out.  I have also given myself a goal of beating my time from the ColorMy5k.  Since the race is in Bloomington, I talked my sister into doing it with me.  

I want the motivation to continue after that so I think I am going to try to sign up for another 5k in August.  I looked online to try to find something during August and found that there is a TCO Vikings 5k August 29.  (http://www.vikings.com/schedule/5k/index.html)   It looks lik fun!

ANYONE WANT TO DO IT WITH ME???

Do you have a cleaning schedule?

This week's challenge in my 52 week home organization challenge is to create a house cleaning schedule.  This is something that I have attempted in the past and when I followed it I could definitely see the benefit but I struggled to follow it.  Lately our house has felt like a disaster so I am very glad this happened to be the challenge for the week! I definitely need to focus on getting the house back in order.

When I found out what the challenge was going to be I started researching other blogs for ideas on how other people set up their cleaning schedules.  I knew the way I had been doing it wasn't working so I needed some fresh ideas.  Most of the schedules I found had assigned a different room in the house for each day of the week, (Monday: Kitchen, Tuesday: Bathrooms, etc) and this is what I had done in the past.  But then I came across one blog that had it a little different. Instead of one room a day, it focused on one room a week.

As soon as I saw this it was like a light blub went on! This is what I need to be doing.  Looking back at my past attempts I think they failed because I was really trying to do too much in one day on top of working full time and spending time with my family. So I started brainstorming!

Brainstorming!

I figure out what rooms to focus on for the four weeks of the month.

• Bathroom
• Kitchen
• Living/Dining Room and Entryway
• Bedrooms

Then I wrote out all the tasks in each room that I want to accomplish that week and also wrote down items that I would do once a week and daily no matter what week. I split the tasks for each room so that all the tasks could be completed Monday thru Friday. This would leave Saturday as a day to finish anything I missed and leave Sunday clear.  I wanted to make sure that I left Sunday as a day of rest.  

Next I incorporated those into my daily plans. I don't think I have shared my daily lists on here before but they were fairly similar to the picture below, I just modified it slightly to include the cleaning tasks.

Sample of my daily plans

I am excited to see if this cleaning schedule finally works for me.  I know this first month I am probably still going to have to take a couple of Saturdays to really get caught up on some stuff, but I think focusing on a few small tasks each day instead of overwhelming myself with an entire room every day will help immensely.  

Do you have a cleaning schedule for your home? What works for you, what doesn't? Share your thoughts here or on Facebook!

No Turning Back!

For the last month, I have been considering signing up for a 5k.  I have been going back and forth quite a bit. As some of you may already know, I don't particularly like to run, but I thought the training program might help to get me in better shape.  I figured it would also help me curb some of my bad eating habits.  If I have to run over three miles, I am going to want to start eating better and shed some unwanted pounds.

A few weeks ago I started a 5k training program, even though I was still unsure if I'd actually sign up for one. It has been going fairly well so yesterday I finally got up the courage to register for my first 5k.

At the end of the registration, up pops a box that says something to the effect of, "do you want to share with your friends on Facebook?" I cannot tell you how long that box stayed up on my computer!  I kept thinking...well if I don't share, then I don't HAVE to do it, right? I'll just eat the registration fee.  No! I can't do that, can I? Hmmm...

In the end, I decided to share it on Facebook. Why? To keep myself accountable, of course. Now I have to do it. Now I have to train more seriously. Now I have to change the way I eat. (No more pie before running!) And now I have friends and family to encourage me and keep me motivated!

No turning back now!

Clothes Overload...Fixed

So last month I posed a question about what was a reasonable quantity of clothing to have for your kids.  I didn't get much for suggestions so I decided I’d try to figure it out myself this past month.

You’d think organizing the kids clothes really wouldn't take too long but with the quantity of clothes my girls have, it was a much larger project than I had originally anticipated.

Here is what my last month consisted of…

Step One – Empty Drawers

We emptied all of their drawers that should have contained clothing that currently fit them.  There were so many clothes stuffed in those drawers that most of it never even got touched and we found that most of them didn't even fit them anymore.  So we sorted all of those clothes into two piles… clothes that fit and clothes that no longer fit.   The clothes that no longer fit the second daughter were put directly into a bag to head to the thrift store.  The clothes that no longer fit the first daughter were sorted by size to be kept for the second daughter.   After this first step, we had quite a few piles on the girls’ bedroom floor!

Step Two – Empty Bins

In the attic space in the girls’ room I had about five bins full of clothing.  Hand me downs from the first daughter and hand me downs that I have generously received from family and friends.  Some I hadn't even had a chance to go through since they were given to me.  We took out each bin and sorted the clothes again by size.  Unfortunately when I packed the bins originally, I didn't take too much time to sort them out properly so each bin contained various sizes of clothing.  You wouldn't think this would take too much time; however, it ended up taking a full week.  A lot of the clothes coming out of the bins needed to be tried on to see if it would fit the girls currently.  My girls love trying on clothes but after the 10^th pair of pants and 15^th shirt… they were done.  So the project was split up between quite a few evenings.  After this step, we had so many piles of clothes on the girls’ bedroom floor that you actually couldn't see the bedroom floor anymore!   I really should have taken some pictures so that you could see that I am not exaggerating!

Step Three – Fill Drawers

Once everything was tried on and sorted, we started the process of putting their clothes that currently fit back into their drawers.  I think I've mentioned this before but the girls don’t have closets in their room so we have to put all of their clothing into a set of built in drawers.  We do have one small area behind their bedroom door to hang things up but that is mostly for their dresses.  So in all the girls have six drawers to hold all of their clothes.  Knowing this we decided that even with the clothes that currently fit them we would need to pare things down.  I didn't count out a certain number of tops, jeans, sweatshirts, etc. I just kept what I thought they would wear.  If there were items that fit but that I knew they didn't really like or never really chose to wear I got rid of them.  So I think even though I can’t give you a number, we finally have it down to a reasonable amount for the girls and for the space that we have.

Step Four – Fill Bins

The last step was to fill the bins back up with the clothes that did not fit the girls yet.  I didn't want to end up with the mess that we had before and in a few months having to sort through the endless bins in search of clothes that may or may not fit the girls.  So I needed to come up with a better solution.  When I was researching about the quantity of clothing you should have for your kids on the internet, I came across a site that talked about keeping a clothing inventory.  After reading about it I couldn't figure out why I hadn't thought about that before, it makes perfect sense.  So as I put the clothes in the bins, I counted the items by article and by size.  Once I was done, I made the following spreadsheets that I will be storing in the attic space with the bins. 

 

Clothing Inventory Sheet

This way when it comes time to move the second daughter into the next size clothing, I can grab the spreadsheet and see what I have I already have in storage.  Now I won’t end up buying things that I already have plenty of.  I also think I may keep a copy in my car.  Yes, I did say in my car.  I think this will be a great thing to take with me when I go garage sale shopping.  I can fill in the gaps and be prepared for the upcoming seasons.

I started this whole process just to pare down the amount of clothing that the girls had.  I accomplished that  (5 garbage bags FULL of clothes we donated to the thrift store!) and I was able to improve on my current clothing storage system.  The process was not fun.  It was long and frustrating at times, but the end result is worth the time spent.  I just wish I would have done it sooner!

Home Organization Challenge

One of my goals for this year is to organize my home by going through a 52 week organization challenge.  When you think of organizing your whole house it sounds like too big of a project.  Where do you start?   That’s where this 52 week project has been great.  It breaks down your home into manageable tasks.  In the last 10 weeks our group has worked on organizing the following areas in our homes:

Kitchen counters and sink
Kitchen cabinets and drawers
Pantry and food storage
Refrigerator and freezer
Recipes
Recycling/trash cans
Coupons
Meal planning/buying groceries
Address and contact info
Mail

Not only have things become a little bit more organized but I've been able to get rid of some clutter, created some new habits and have a great accountability group.  I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the 42 weeks! 

If you are interested in joining the challenge, you can at anytime!  Just let me know and I can add you to our group on Facebook.

Clothes Overload!

The question below came up on my Facebook newsfeed today from another page I follow and it made me realize I'm in the same boat. So, I pose the question to all of you. What do you think is a good amount?  Comment here on my blog or on my Facebook link.

I've gotten a couple of questions about what is a reasonable quantity of clothing to have for kids, so I'm posing them together: 

Reader question 1: I want to know what is a good quantity of clothing to keep for a child. 10 pants, 10 shirts, etc. We get a lot of hand me downs, which I LOVE, but sometimes it seems like my kids only wear a handful of items. I am running out of drawer space and it makes putting away laundry a nightmare! I always have a hard time passing on items that my 2nd daughter might wear in 4 years! 

Reader question 2: My girls have way too many clothes. What is a good amount to keep? They always have 2 or 3 baskets of laundry to put away with clothes still in their closets! Help please!

Even Josie is overwhelmed by all the clothes!

Heading to the gym!

Tonight marks my return to the gym! I have tried working out at home and I am successful for a little while but then my motivation fades. I have figured out that the only times I have been consistent with working out is when money is involved...sad I know, but true!

In the past it has been Biggest Loser contests that have motivated me. This time it is my gym fees! I work for a great company that will reimburse me a percentage of my membership fees if I go to the gym six or more times during the month. Because I have worked there nine years, they will reimburse 90%! That would make my gym membership less than $5 a month! So that is my motivation for the next 18 months...to make it there at least six times a month in order to get my money back! Now I'm asking all of you to keep me accountable.  Now, off to the gym!

My Fix

So I don’t normally pay too much attention to myself.  I am guessing most moms are like that.  You focus on your kids, your home, your husband, but you tend to forget about yourself.  Well, I have been trying to take steps to fix that.  One step is trying to take care of my body better.  So far this year, that hasn't been going so well.  I need to find motivation there, but that’s for a different post.   Another step I have taken was to sign up for a subscription service called IPSY.  Each month they send me out a bag with 5 items that include a variety of products (makeup, hair product, lotions, soaps, nail polishes etc.)  And for the minimal cost it is a great deal because I have found quite a few things that I really like that I wouldn't have tried on my own.   In the past 10 years I’m pretty sure I have purchased the same products, makeup, etc. so this service has been good for me.

When it comes to clothes, I rarely go shopping for myself and when I do, I usually only get to Kohl’s or Target because everything else is too far away.  So a lot of my clothes are pretty basic.  I don't really put a lot of thought or effort into my looks.  I have determined that I really don’t have any style but have always wanted to try different outfits I've seen but I don’t ever get the chance to go shopping for them OR I don’t know what to try on and end up getting frustrated.  

At the beginning of this month I came across a service called Stitch Fix.  It’s basically an online personal stylist.  As I read more about it, I was definitely intrigued.  Someone else picking out clothes for me…that sounded wonderful.  I wasn't quite sure I should try it until I saw that you didn't have to commit to a subscription, that you could just order one box and you didn't have to do it again if you didn't want to.   So I thought I would be brave and try it out.  So I signed up for my first “fix.”  It was simple.  All I had to do was fill out a style profile.  It asked me questions about what sizes I wore, some questions about my lifestyle, showed me different outfits and asked me if I liked them or not.  You could even link up to your Pinterest account so that the stylist can see what types of things you like.   Once you've fill everything out you can pick a date for your fix to be shipped.  Then a personal stylist handpicks a selection of five clothing items and accessories unique to your taste, budget and lifestyle.  They send you your “fix” and you have a few days to try them out before you decide what you want to keep and what you want to send back. 

So this month I have been eagerly waiting for my box to be delivered.  Monday was the day.  I probably shouldn't have had it delivered to my work address… because all day I wanted to open the box and go try everything on, but I refrained.  But it didn't take long for it to be opened when I got home!  Along with the clothes there was a style card.  It showed all the pieces that they sent me with style suggestions. I love that.

I ended up being sent a sweatshirt, a cardigan, a pair of jeans and two shirts.  I loved the looks of all of it.  I tried everything on but unfortunately not everything worked.  But that’s what is great about this, since I hadn't paid for any of it yet, I could just send it back! Surprisingly the jeans fit great!  I have a hard time finding jeans so that was awesome.  I liked the sweatshirt but when I tried it on I wasn't sure and I decided that if I wasn't sure I probably shouldn't keep it.  I only want to keep the things I love.  The other items either just didn't look right on my body or were too short in the torso, etc.  So I ended up keeping the jeans and I put the rest of the items back into the labeled prepaid envelope and went to their website to check out.  The beauty of the check out process was that they ask you questions about why your sending items back so that if you request another “fix” they can use those comments to help them pick out the new items.  Once you check out you get charged for the items you keep.    It was so simple and the clothes I decided to send back are already in the mail.  I also decided that I want to try it again so I signed up for another “fix” to be sent to me the end of next month.  I can’t wait.   Maybe soon I will at least feel a little more stylish!

If anyone is interested in either of these services, use the referral links I have listed below.  

IPSY
https://www.ipsy.com/r/lqjeb

Stitch Fix

https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/4691483

Feeling OVERWHELMED…

Do you ever just feel so overwhelmed that you just don’t feel like you can catch up?  That’s what my life has been like the last few months.   My life has been busy with planning a Crockpot cookoff at church, basketball camp for my daughter, holiday parties, board meetings, small group meetings, worship team, taxes, sickness and planning our adult retreat at Trout Lake Camp.  With all of this, plus the regular daily life stuff I feel like I have neglected some things in my life.

One: this blog 

I haven’t been able to write as often as I’d like.  It has been helping keep me accountable, but when I don’t share, how does that help?

Two: my health 

With feeling so busy, I have lacked discipline when it comes to eating and exercising.  Snacking too much, exercising not enough.  You miss one day of exercising so the next day you think… well, I didn't get to it yesterday, it’s not going to hurt me to miss it again today.  Then I've missed two days in a row and I tell myself I’ll start over again tomorrow.  Then three days are missed, etc…

Three: everything else

I feel like I've just been a little bit behind on everything. Not picking out the girls clothes Sunday night for the week but getting to it on Monday night.  Letting the dishes pile up longer than I’d like.  Just everything.

With things finally slowing down I am hoping that I can get back into a good routine.  This coming week/weekend I plan on catching up on all that stuff that has been pushed aside these last few weeks.  Have you ever felt like this?  If so, what do you do to get yourself back on track?  What motivates you?  

A Great Reminder!

2015 is off to a good start!  I have already been working on a couple of my goals for the year.  

The first one I started was a 52 week home organization challenge.  A group of friends decided to join me in this challenge.  We started a Facebook group where I post the weekly challenge on Mondays and we use the rest of the week to encourage each other and keep each other accountable.  So far it has been really good.  These first few weeks have focused on different areas in the kitchen.  It has been very helpful to look at things from a different perspective and to get motivation from others who are doing the same things.  The first week’s challenge was to focus on organizing and cleaning off your kitchen counter tops and sink.  In the challenge it talked about making sure that every day your counter tops were cleaned off and that your sink was empty. One of my friends said she finds herself guarding her counter tops wanting to keep them clean.  I find myself doing the same thing.  It’s so nice waking up in the morning, walking into the kitchen and it’s clear of clutter!  This organization challenge is designed so that you don’t just clean but you organize things in a way so that you can create a habit of keeping it clean.  I am looking forward to the rest of the year and the challenges that are ahead.

The second goal I have started working on is the eating right, working out and losing 2 lbs a month.  I haven’t quite made it through the month so I don’t know about the weight part of the goal but I have started exercising again.  I wanted to find some sort of quick way to exercise every day that I wouldn't end up dreading or putting off because I ran out of time.  So I found an app for my iPad called Seven.  It is a daily seven minute exercise program.  Not only did I start doing it but I found a friend who was willing do to it with me.  So we are accountable to each other to make sure that we are keeping up with it.  It’s also kind of fun because you can lose “hearts” in the app if you miss a workout and you can achieve different levels, and unlock different workouts.

I started this blog last year with the hopes of putting a little bit more order in my life.  Slowly I am doing that but ONLY because I am making myself accountable to another group of people.  If I tried to do everything alone I would fail.  Isn't this a great reminder!  Pride motivates the belief that we can do everything on our own.  When we try to do things ourselves, follow our own plans, make our own choices instead of relying on God, we fail.  I like the Amplified Bible version of Proverbs 3:5-6, which states,

No More Resolutions!

I don’t like the term New Year’s Resolutions.  When I think of resolutions I think of unrealistic hopes, dreams, things that get forgotten about in February.  The definition of resolution is "a firm decision to do or not do something." I can make a decision to do something, but that doesn't mean anything will happen or change.  So this year instead of resolutions, I am setting GOALS for the new year.  Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals.  But setting goals isn't enough by itself.  You need accountability.

So in order to have some accountability I am going to share my goals for the new year with you. 

• Complete a 52 week home organization challenge 

• Eat right, workout and lose 2 lbs a month 

• Have a date night with my husband once a month 

• Have a more consistent set aside time for God by spending at least10 mins in the Word daily

• Have a date night with the girls once a month

Now to sit down and figure out how to attain these goals.  Do you have any goals for the new year? If so, share them with others to help you be more accountable as well!