20 New Year Reset Ideas for ADHD Moms
As the calendar page turns on a new year, it brings with it a sense of fresh beginnings and the opportunity for a reset. I love a good reset! Not only have I made resetting a part of my daily routine but I’ve created weekly, monthly, quarterly, and now New Year reset routines for myself.
Instead of thinking about my endless to-do lists, all I have to do is refer back to my plan for resetting at different points throughout the year and only focus on those few tasks. If you struggle with focus and follow through because of your ADHD, you need task management strategies that will simplify your life and increase your productivity.
So let’s dive into the routine of a new-year reset a little deeper. The idea of a New Year reset isn’t about grand resolutions that fizzle out by February. I don’t know about you but I’m not good at keeping resolutions. A New Year reset is more about setting achievable, practical steps to organize our lives better.
Let’s explore how a New Year reset can be a game-changer for ADHD moms, helping us to navigate our days with a bit more ease and a lot less clutter and chaos.
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How to be a better organized ADHD mom this year?
Organization for an ADHD mom isn’t about creating a Pinterest-perfect home. To be honest, Pinterest can overwhelm your ADHD. Pinterest used to paralyze me from getting anything done before I learned how to use it as a tool for productivity.
Organization for an ADHD mom is more about finding systems that work for us and our unique brains. It’s about creating a home environment that reduces stress and increases efficiency. This is why I promote minimalism for ADHD moms and anyone who struggles with executive functions.
Having a well-thought-out environment supports your executive functions. A supportive environment for your ADHD means having a place for everything, simplifying your routines, and setting up reminders and cues to help you stay on track. It’s also about being realistic with your expectations and kind to yourself when things don’t go as planned.
How does a New Year reset help ADHD Moms be better organized?
A New Year reset for an ADHD mom is like hitting the refresh button on our cluttered minds and homes. It allows you to clear out the old – both physically and mentally – and make space for new habits and systems.
A New Year reset is an opportunity to reflect on what didn’t work last year and plan for a more organized approach this year. If the executive function of ongoing self-monitoring eludes you, this New Year reset routine will remind you to take the time for self-reflection.
Also, keep in mind that a New Year reset isn’t just about physical spaces in your home. It’s also about resetting your mindset to focus on what truly matters. A cluttered mind will produce a cluttered home and vice-versa. Don’t neglect strategies for decluttering your mind often.
How do I create a simple New Year reset for my ADHD?
The key to a successful New Year reset, especially for ADHD moms, is simplicity.
Choose just THREE tasks to focus on.
Why three? Because it’s enough to make a significant impact without being overwhelming.
When we try to do too much, we set ourselves up for frustration and disappointment. These tasks should be meaningful, achievable, and, most importantly, not too time-consuming.
What should I reset at the beginning of the year?
In my own New Year reset, I’m focusing on three key tasks. I encourage you to think of your own three tasks that will set you up for a more organized year but feel free to steal and piggyback off of mine until your organization muscles become stronger and more experienced.
My Simple 3-Step New Year Reset
1. Purchase New Calendars & Planners
I focus on resetting three calendars: our shared digital calendar on our phones, the family wall calendar in the kitchen, and my paper planner. I wasn’t always good at keeping calendars and planners but over the years as I have minimized my home to my personal capacity, I have been able to use calendars to manage my time better.
You’ll get there too if you’ve always wanted to be better at using a planner. It just takes creating some space and capacity in your life to do so.
The At-A-Glance Harmon Planner is my favorite planner. This is my third year using it. The appointment layout is where I put my daily time blocks.
2. Declutter and Organize Digital Photos from the Previous Year
At the beginning of every year, I take time to declutter and organize the photos on my phone and get them off my phone and somewhere safe. This yearly routine is a manageable way to preserve my photos so that I’m not overwhelmed with digital clutter.
3. Create a Folder to Collect Tax Documents
As the documents start rolling in, having a specific place for them keeps me ahead of the game. At the beginning of each year, I sit down with my husband and brain-dumped all the tax documents were expecting to get in the mail. I write them down on the outside of a file folder so that I can check them off as we receive them. This simple task makes filing our taxes so much easier.
What are some ideas for a New Year reset?
Okay, now I’ve gotten you excited about this yearly New Year reset routine but you’re feeling completely stumped on deciding what three tasks will support you the most going into 2024. The executive function for making this decision is called task initiation by the way.
I’m going to give you a few more ideas for a New Year reset and lead you through a simple guided exercise. But I don’t want you to get overwhelmed by this list and completely shut down.
How to Make Your Own New Year Reset List
STEP 1:
Grab a piece of scratch paper. Stop reading and go do that. (Don’t you want someone to tell you exactly what to do? Then do it, my friend. Trust me. You’ll get overwhelmed and shut down if you keep reading.
STEP 2:
Read over these ideas I’ve provided for you. They’re not all-encompassing so don’t feel like these are the only tasks you can choose for your New Year reset. They’re just suggestions and ideas. As you quickly read through them, I want you to write down any number of tasks that resonate with you.
What do I mean by “resonate with you?” Any task that screams, “I need to do that” is a task that resonates with you and may be good to add to your New Year reset.
STEP 3:
After you quickly read and write down any tasks you think you need to add to your New Year reset, it’s time to pare them down to just THREE tasks. Every task sounds like a good idea but too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. And if you bite off more than you can chew you will shut down altogether and not accomplish anything.
Your initial New Year reset routine needs to be simple! And doable.
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20 New Year Reset Ideas for ADHD Moms
1. State This Year’s Goals
Instead of resolutions, write out your personal and professional goals. I like to choose one word to represent the overall theme for the year. This year my word is “margin.” Then, I choose just one goal for each quarter.
Last year my first quarter goal was to read more fiction instead of being on my phone, and I was able to read 41 books last year.
Goal setting should be simple with ADHD so you can narrow your focus and experience small wins.
2. Update Your Family Budget
Sit down with your significant other, take a look at your family budget together, and make some changes and updates for this year. We’ve been doing a family budget since we got married in 2005, which helps us stay debt-free and manage our money well together.
Overspending and not tracking your spending is common among ADHD. You can easily track your family budget using a spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
3. Write a Birthday List
ADHD can affect your ability to remember important dates so a list of birthdays for the year will really help. Go through last year’s calendar and planner and make a master list of birthdays for this year. Add them to your digital calendar. You can take it a step further and purchase birthday cards for all those you want to celebrate.
4. Refresh Your Pantry
I do this more than once a year but you can go through your pantry, toss out expired items, and reorganize the shelves for easier access.
5. Update Household Binders & Files
Stop depending on your ADHD brain to remember everything needed to manage your home. If you have binders for medical records, bills, or warranties, now is the time to update them. If you don’t have a home management binder, take the time to create one now so you have one place for everything you need to manage your home and stay organized.
6. Clear Out the Medicine Cabinet
With ADHD, you may hoard or collect medication bottles because you think they’re important. But when you’re no longer using medications they can clutter a space.
Check expiration dates on medications and safely dispose of those that are outdated. If medications are a vital part of your family’s life, this may be an important task to add to your New Year reset.
7. Revise or Create Emergency Contact Lists
Make sure your list of emergency contacts is up-to-date and accessible to all family members. This is also a good time to coordinate with some friends in case of sick days. Designate some friends you can call on for help with you or a family member is sick and you need some help.
8. Declutter Children’s Artwork and School Papers
You simply can’t keep everything. I recommend having a designated place for keeping childhood memories. Create childhood memory boxes for your kids. Decide what to keep and what to get rid of. One day your kids will be adults and they really don’t want everything from their childhood. Rip the band-aide off from them now to save them from that burden. This will support your ADHD and prevent you from randomly laying down papers around your house.
9. Review and Update Insurance Policies
Ensure your policies are current and provide the coverage you need. Sounds boring but when was the last time you did this? ADHD hinders us from taking care of important tasks around our house that feel less exciting. We tend to avoid these tasks. If this is something you’ve been neglecting, you may want to add it to your New Year reset.
10. Plan Out Seasonal Clothing Swaps
Organize when you’ll switch out winter clothes for spring/summer ones, and vice versa. Label the bins clearly so you know which bin holds which clothes season. Under-the-bed totes work great for seasonal clothes.
If swapping out seasonal clothes overwhelms you, here are some more clothes storage ideas for ADHD and tips for organizing clothes for ADHD.
11. Organize Christmas Decor
Does your ADHD make Christmas hard? Organize your Christmas decor in a way that makes it easier for next year. I bought matching boxes as you can see in the picture above and labeled them in the order I will put them out next holiday session.
- Christmas lights and Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving.
- Christmas ornaments on the tree on Thanksgiving day.
- Christmas decor put out the weekend after Thanksgiving.
12. Organize a Home Maintenance Checklist
List tasks to be done weekly, monthly, or seasonally throughout the year. I teach my ADHD students to use a zone cleaning method as well as daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly resets. Break down your year and assign tasks so your home is being properly maintained.
13. Create a Weekly Meal Planning System
This can help streamline grocery shopping and reduce food waste. Imagine not having to come home from work in the afternoon and wonder what you’re making for dinner. I reset my weekly meal plan during my weekend reset after I have updated my planner for the week.
14. Set Goals for Decluttering Projects
This is a good time to look at your home and make a master list of each room you want to declutter and organize. I like to write 12 different areas in the home and spread them out over 12 months decluttering and organizing one area each month.
This is what we do together inside The Accountability Club. We declutter and organize one room at a time together. The Accountability Club is perfect for ADHD moms who struggle with executive functions because they get coaching and accountability from me. Check it out for at least 3 months to see if it will help you declutter and get better organized.
15. Implement a Family Chore Chart
Create a go-to place for writing down chores for the kids. You can create a chore chart that repeats weekly. I’m not too fond of chore charts that aren’t updated regularly so I have a dry-erase board on my pantry door where I will list chores for the day. These are typically chores outside their daily habits or my 3-step home management systems. I’ve found this to be the best way to help my ADHD child complete his chores.
16. Declutter Digital Spaces
Clean up your email inbox, desktop, and digital files. As I said earlier, I declutter and organize my digital photos at the beginning of every year and get them off my phone.
We’re decluttering our digital photos and videos inside The Accountability Club this month if you need some support. If you’re reading this after January, you can still get support with photo organization so join the club!
17. Establish a Bill-Paying System
Budgeting and actually paying your bills are completely different. I’m great at budgeting and my husband is better at paying bills. He is a people pleaser and a rule-follower so this task works great for him. I on the other hand depend on automatic payments because I would forget otherwise. So if you don’t already have your bill-paying system set up, now is a good time.
18. Declutter Subscriptions and Memberships
Cancel what you no longer use or need. I wasted a LOT of money last year by not evaluating my subscriptions often. If you made that same mistake, take some time to unsubscribe now and save money in the new year.
19. Organize Your Workspace
ADHD makes it hard to keep our physical spaces organized. So whether it’s a home office or a kitchen table, make it a clutter-free and pleasant place to work. As a manager of your home, it’s important to first have a designated “home office” or workspace, but it’s also important that is kept tidy and organized. You can even use an oversized bag as a mobile office. It’s simply a go-to place to keep tools that help you better manage your home.
20. List Date Night Ideas
Make a list of ideas or places to eat for a date night with your significant other. Don’t let more time go by without nurturing the romance between you two. You can take it a step further and designate a certain night of the month for dates and add them to your digital calendar.
How do I do a New Year reset if I struggle with taking action?
If taking action is a challenge, focus on small, manageable tasks. Use visual aids like checklists or planners to keep track of what needs to be done. Set timers for tasks to keep you focused and prevent burnout. And remember, it’s okay to ask for help or delegate tasks to family members.
You can also join The Accountability Club or do private coaching with me and I will get you started and hold you accountable.
What if I can’t focus on my New Year reset?
If you find yourself overwhelmed, take a step back and breathe. Break down tasks into smaller, more manageable parts. Focus on one task at a time. And it’s perfectly fine to adjust your New Year reset tasks. The key is progress, not perfection.
Also, remember this is a brand-new skill. You’re not going to be good at it. Maybe you bit off more than you can chew. Try simplifying your New Year reset even more so you can be successful. Your organization muscle will strengthen the more you exercise it.
Join The Accountability Club
To keep the momentum going, consider joining The Accountability Club. It’s a space where you can find support, share your journey, and stay accountable to your organization goals.
If group settings aren’t your thing and you need more hand-holding, you can do one-on-one online coaching with me instead. You’ll get my eyes are your home and a more tailored coaching experience.
I’d love to hear from you!
Choose three simple tasks that will help you be better prepared going into the new year. Share yours in the comments below.
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