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Organizing Your Way Through the High Holidays

By Hannah Klegon, ISJL Education Fellow
 
​The High Holidays are a time for reflection. Whether it be the newness and freshness of Rosh Hashanah, celebrating a new year, or looking back on our past year during Yom Kippur, the holidays are filled with introspection. But, to thoroughly cleanse ourselves and start over, we have to prepare. When I think about preparing for a big event, the first things that come to mind is organization. But, how can we organize our lives efficiently to enjoy our High Holiday season truly? It’s easier than you think!
 
Create a To-Do list
The best place to start when organizing is to sit down and figure out exactly what you need to do. There are a lot of methods for making to-do lists. Whether you prefer to sit down and write it out with a pen and paper, or whether you prefer something more electronic, like Todoist, an app that creates to-do lists for you, there are many options to jump-start the organization!
 
Declutter
What better way to start the New Year off with a clutter-less life? Spring cleaning is excellent, but why not do a full clean of your life before the start of the High Holidays? Whether that means going through your closets and donating that eight-year-old sequined coat that “you never know when you’ll need that” or taking a broom and sweeping the dust bunnies that have made a permanent home in the living room, there are multiple ways that you can declutter your life before starting off the New Year! In addition to that, think about decluttering your inbox during this time. Unroll.me is a service that will help you unsubscribe from all of those annoying advertisement emails that fill our inbox. Decluttering doesn’t just have to be your home, it can be your entire life.
Reminders
Don’t just organize your life for the High Holidays, use this time to organize the rest of the year. Use Boomerang, a Gmail add-on, to schedule emails to your future self to remind you to do things throughout the year. Maybe you have a great idea for a program in February, or you want to be reminded of an upcoming event in May, schedule those emails now so you don’t forget about it! 

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