This is my favorite time of year because I can dream about having my spices in alphabetical order, having everything in place in my sewing room and finding everything I lost last year.

I don’t want to say I am messy. I just have too much stuff.

My husband knows where every tool is in every drawer and it goes back to that spot, unless of course I have handled it. I do envy him but I can’t emulate him.

I’ve always admired those people who have bins lined up and labeled.

People make a living organizing others’ space. For me it would last a day.

Yet, at this time of year, every headline on magazines while I am standing in line at the supermarket promises ways to get my life in order. I cannot pass by one that tells me how to organize my clutter.

Here are some recent ones that showed up in my mailbox from a Better Homes and Garden newsletter (I subscribe to many):

“7 Worst Organizing Mistakes You’re Making”

“38 Organization Tips for Every Room”

“How to Properly Organize Your Recycling”

STOP! I can’t even organize my nonrecycling.

If I do, I will move on to “Under-the-Sink Organizer to Avoid Clutter”

Mistakes? I make just about all of them.

The first tip is Setting Unrealistic Expectations.

The recommendation is to find organization techniques that work for your home size, family lifestyle and belongings. I can work at this.

Second mistake is holding on to unused items.

Take everything out of closet, drawer, or any corner and look for outdated, damaged or things that don’t fit.

They tell you to be realistic about what you will really use.

Come on!

I am going to blame my heritage here. Growing up in a Pennsylvania Dutch home, with a grandmother who lived during the Depression, you learn to always clean your plate and not to throw away anything that is usable. I know that you can donate or have a yard sale, but you never know what you’ll need.

I am not a hoarder, but there are things I might need some day.

I am just hoping no one gets a broken foot when they open the hall closet and everything falls out on their feet.

The third is storage. Basically find a system for each type of storage: cupboards, open areas.

My husband tells me I have no system … for filing, storing or using before expiration date.

I didn’t make it this far in life without a system. During the pandemic, I accomplished a few things:

The first week I was home I organized all my pantry items by expiration date so that I could have stock of everything before I wandered out into the germy world.

Anything that had to be used immediately went into a special box and I found recipes to use them.

Then I decided to tackle those plastic containers. I bought a dollar store expandable bin and separated it by a piece of cardboard. On one side I put square lids and round lids on the other side. It’s working. Have to still find the bottoms, but it works.

One problem though is that I have some lids with no bottoms and bottoms with no lids. I can’t throw them away, because one day I might find that valuable missing part.

Mistake 4: Putting Papers in a Pile.

Confession time: I lost my taxes last year. After I organized them, but before I filled them out. Did you know you can reprint your tax papers off the IRS website? The nice lady in HR told me that.

People told me I would find them. I never did.

I can’t go any further. Well, except to share my latest loss.

We can’t find our GPS and I admit I had it last. When we came home from vacation I didn’t put it in the case in the car. I grabbed it and put it in some bag to make one less trip into the house and said I would unpack it later. When I looked for it a few weeks later it was too late to retrace my steps.

I have an unrealistic expectation of my brain. I always think I will remember where I put things. But I don’t.

My only advice: Don’t put things in an odd place that you are sure to remember.

You. Will. Never. Remember.

I will press on, despite the bad memory.

My next reading material: “38 Organization Tips for Every Room in Your Home.”

Right after I “Find a Place for Everything.”

Check in with me next year and I’ll let you know how it worked.