The years are seriously going by too quickly. I mean, there obviously isn’t enough time in any given day, month or year, because I didn’t actually have time to accomplish any of my goals last year!
I have things I’d like to change about myself and my surroundings this year as always, but I think I’m going to organize things a little differently. I’m not making a list of resolutions. Instead I’m going to try to accomplish one constructive thing or start creating one new habit every week. It’s much more concrete – and manageable – to say “this week I’m going to sort through one box of fabric” than “this year I need to organize my craft room”. Or “this week I’m going to do something active every day” than “I have to start going to the gym more this year.” So, this week, I’m going to do something small that makes me smile every time I go into my room: I’m going to make my bed every morning.
The other thing I’m planning to do is to start using an organizer. A real, honest-to-goodness paper organizer. With checklists. For me, being able to check a task off a list is a very motivating thing. (I’ve been known to add things to a to-do list after I finished them just so I could check them off. Very satisfying.) So if I have a list of things to accomplish in any given day or week, I’m much more likely to spend Carrie’s naptime doing a few constructive things in addition to my usual knitting and computer time. I briefly toyed with the idea of resurrecting my pda, but I’ve survived without carrying it for 2 1/2 years, and I don’t think I need it weighing down my purse (even more than it already is) and beeping at me at odd intervals.
Of course, it’s January 1st. I can say I’m going to be more organized and try to accomplish things pretty easily today. I guess we’ll see next year whether it works better this way than just the blanket list of resolutions ever does.
I have recently gone back to the dayplanner or what have you. I used them extensively while I was in school, but have fallen out of the habit since then. However, writing doctor’s appointments and ‘to do’ lists on the back of envelopes (and subsequently throwing out or losing them) just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Course, I had to wait until the new year to get one on sale.
Happy New Year!