Everyone has just about the same goals for the new year, normally: work out, get organized and stop doing [insert habit here]. I always tell myself these things, too, but it's always hard to follow through. That's why I'm going to talk about the "get organized" goal and talk about how important and invigorating it is to declutter your life.

Since it's my last semester of college, I wanted to start purging my room, kitchen and house and throw away or donate things that I don't use. This can be super hard to those of us who get attached, but the way I did this was to get rid of things I hadn't used in the past two months. I started with my closet and even the cutest shirts or shirts I said would fit me later were thrown in the donate pile, because I hadn't ever worn them. I did the same thing with my shoes. Trust me, it's tough, but it's so worth it to have room for NEW clothes and to actually be able to see all of your clothes. I also did the same thing with my bathroom and desk drawers. No, you do not need 50 bottles of lotion, the same eyeliner you've owned for two years, and five half-used spirals from previous semesters. I promise it will feel good if you just throw them away. My last (and hardest) step, was going through all of my sorority and event T-shirts. These are hard to sort through because they contain memories, and everyone loves T-shirts. To make this easier, I made a pile to give to my grand little for her to pass down to her future little, and I have a pile of things I want to sell to other members. I promise it's not that heartbreaking.

My last step of decluttering that I almost forgot about was CLEARING OUT MY E-MAIL INBOX and emptying the trash. This is the best feeling -- there is nothing worse than a full inbox. I also unsubscribed to pointless emails and newsletters while I did this -- that way, I will now only pay attention to important emails. Whenever I did this, I had the idea to clear out all notifications on my phone apps and delete the ones I don't ever use. Not only did this give my phone more space, it relieved my annoyance of seeing the red bubbles next to the apps. Lastly, I emptied all of my photos on to the computer. New year, new me, right?

It can be a pain to start throwing things away, but once you get past that, you'll be throwing and giving everything away! Plus, your mind will be cleared for whatever you have coming up! Happy decluttering!