Every year, our inboxes get flooded with “new year, new you” messages. We’re expected to wake up on January 1 with laser focus, iron willpower, and a foolproof plan to change everything about ourselves.

Sound familiar? Yeah, I’ve been there.

Here’s the truth most of us don’t talk about: January is the worst month to change your life. But it is great for the thing we often overlook—cleaning up your life.

That might feel like a strange claim, especially if you’re used to goal-setting, habit-installing Januarys, but stick with me for a moment. Because I think it’s due time to make January great again!

Why January Doesn’t Work Like We Expect

Most of us try to set resolutions and goals in January, not because it’s the best time to change, but simply because the calendar flips. We believe the fresh start we feel should align with the calendar change we see.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, and attempting to make it leaves us flustered and giving up, often before February hits.

You start strong for a week or two, but mid-January hits. Your energy drops. Motivation wanes. And the bleak winter days, post-holiday exhaustion, and depleted energy steal the momentum you were banking on.

And according to behavioral science, this isn’t just perception. Human behavior in January actually works against you when it comes to sweeping life changes. Expectations may spike, but cognitive load, environmental friction, and seasonally low energy make sustaining new routines far harder than we assume.

In other words, January often fails us not because we lack discipline, but because we lack the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to do anything about it.

If January isn’t ideal for implementing big changes, why do we fall for “new year, new you” every time? Because we’re taught that change begins with action. But in reality, lasting change begins with space.

It begins with a clean slate, and that doesn’t mean void of everything. Clean simply means order or, better yet, freedom. And what if the freedom you need to change was simply found in cleaning up your slate (or foundation)?

January’s Actual Job

January may not be about launching change, but it is about cleaning up your space to create change. It’s building the foundation, or at least maintaining it, so that the change you do produce has a place to stand.

That is why, the real work of January is:

• Clearing space mentally, emotionally, and digitally.
• Cleaning up your enviornment and finances.
• Restoring order to your rhythms.
• Removing energy drains.
• Resetting your systems and plans.

And this work isn’t about doing more, but about making room. And yes, it will feel counter-cultural, especially if you’ve always equated January with big change and kicking off a “new you.” But when you allow yourself to rethink January, giving it another job, not just dismissing it, everything shifts.

You can release your expectations and hopes and take a specific action that frees up your energy.

Cleaning up your mental and digital spaces

One space to clean up this month is your mental and digital spaces. While incredibly different, they share a common thread. Your digital space has a hold on your mental space, just as your mental space has a hold on your digital space.

For instance, think about a notification pinging in the middle of a focused work session. You notice. And you don’t just notice, but you’re forced to notice by the noise that then pulls you away from the work. Every notification affects your mental space. It may seem small and insignificant, but if your phone pings every fifteen minutes, that adds up.

Likewise, your mental state or energy drain can leave you wanting to escape, prompting you to turn to your phone. Doomscrolling isn’t just a digital problem; it’s often a symptom of an exhausted mind seeking an outlet that only perpetuates that exhaustion.

Do you see the connection? I probably didn’t have to tell you, you know it exists.

Today, work on cleaning up these spaces, setting a standard for the year ahead. We’re not looking for perfection, but a cleansing. Like the dishes in your sink, you’ll keep coming back and cleaning up, but it gets easier when you have a clean slate to start with.

Cleaning Up Your Digital Space

You don’t necessarily have to start here, but it is easier to measure and track what you’re cleaning up. There are some immediate external points to notice.

Take time to evaluate your digital spaces. What digital clutter do you need cleaned up? Here are some examples:

• Your inbox and the thousands of unread emails piling up (use it as a time to unsubscribe so you don’t get overwhelmed).
• Turn off notifications, because you really don’t need them.
• Delete apps you don’t use but see daily.
• Unfollow people who leave you depleted more than filled.
• Clean up the photos on your phone from the year, or better yet, get them printed and put in a folder, creating space for the new.
• Close the endless tabs on your phone and computer.
• Clean up your desktop, sorting through the files you haven’t placed.
• End subscriptions to and streaming apps you no longer need or want.

Think of these less like tasks and more like drains. Pay attention, you might not need to clean up all of these areas, or they might be different than what’s on the list. Make it personal based on what is most pressing to you.

Create your own list of digital spaces to clean up, and over the next week, start knocking them out. Let yourself feel the peace that comes from the space you’ve created. And don’t be tempted to refill it too quickly. Let yourself have time to be intentional.

Cleaning Up Your Mental Space

Your mind is like a room that can only hold so much before it feels crowded. Unfortunately, we live in a world that wants you to hoard information, taking it in faster than you can process what is worth keeping and what you can toss. This leads to an overstuffed mind that collects clutter and dirt.

And we wonder why we’re in a mental health crisis. Our minds are not designed to process what we ask them to. That’s why you need to be diligent about keeping your mental space clean.

Cleaning up your mental space can take many forms. Use this list, but don’t be confined to it.

Pay attention to what you need and get creative with how to clean it (and keep it clean).

Here are some ways to get started.

• Brain dump anything and everything that is in your mind. Write it all down, even if there is no rhythm or reason, or flow (there probably won’t be). Use this to delegate and delete anything not needed.
• Let go of unhealthy and unnecessary expectations that aren’t serving you.
• Let go of the old story you keep holding onto as if it might help you (it won’t).
• Shift old patterns and ways of thinking you haven’t examined.
• Release the need to judge yourself and others (including the guilt and shame that it brings).
• Release overthinking.
• Stop giving energy to the thoughts that are no longer serving you.

Again, there are so many others you could add to that list. Get creative and be open to what it look slike fo ryou to clean up your mental state. Note that anything that drains your energy is not worth keeping, even if it feels that way.

To do this work effectively, you’ll need to remind yourself that you are safe to let them go. Take it slowly. Don’t put expectations on it, but stay aware so you can free yourself from holding what you don’t need.

A Simple Framework to Measure Your Energy Drain

Before you dive in and start cleaning, you need a way to tell what actually matters and what’s just noise.

Here’s a simple test to reflect on as you assess each area of your life. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does this give me energy?
• Is this neutralizing my energy?
• Does this drain my energy?

If it gives you energy, keep it, protect it, and expand on it. If it drains you, remove it, streamline it, or limit it. And if it’s neutral, don’t do anything with it. Leave it as functional, l but don’t prioritize it.

Your answers will reveal where your life is currently leaking the most energy. Knowing this is the first step toward real alignment. Use this simple framework daily as you work to clean up your space (and keep it clean this year).

What This Does for the Rest of Your Year

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about clearing out what’s hijacking your energy so you can invest in what truly matters. Not what simply screams the loudest. When you reduce mental and digital noise, you create:

• More attention for intention.
• Less resistance to action.
• Greater capacity for growth.
• A clearer sense of direction.

This is the foundation on which real change is built. And the kind that lasts!

The Nourished Planner: Your Tool To Clean Up Your Life

Cleaning up isn’t just a one-off weekend project. It’s a rhythm. One you can consciously build into your year so that intention replaces overwhelm. That’s where the Nourished Planner becomes more than a pretty notebook. It becomes your partner in the process.

The Nourished Planner is designed around:

• Monthly themes that build capacity instead of demanding change.
• Habit trackers rooted in energy, not pressure.
• White space for reflection and rest.
• Space to clarify what matters before you plan what comes next.

Instead of sprinting forward because the calendar changed, the Nourished Planner helps you:

• Notice what’s draining you.
• Name what you want.
• Remove what’s in the way.
• Build momentum from a grounded foundation.

It’s planning that works with your actual energy. Not against it.

Get a Nourished Planner and start living differently. Shop all planners here!