I've been thinking a lot about the New Year and how I have failed to keep every New Year Resolution I have made. This year I have a really great Resolution that will require one hour a week of my time. I've been contemplating what I could do prior to the New Year to ensure I had that additional one hour.
We can all admit that there isn't enough time in the day and if I'm really going to commit one hour per week to this resolution and stick to it, there are some things around the home that I need to get out of my mind. These are tasks that I don't have to do very often and can easily be pushed from one to-do list to another. Some might be small in scope — and definitely don't amount to a full hour — but simply having them in my mind or on a list somewhere brings me down. I have a vision of waking up on January 1st and not thinking about anything but the New Year! I thought I would share this list and invite you to share whether or not you are doing any pre-New Year's work to give those resolutions a better chance at sticking.
1. Wipe down baseboards in house.
This only needs to be done once or twice a year and you will be surprised how much cleaner it makes your home feel!
2. Finish up those sewing projects, or get rid of it.
We are all missing a button or two here, a fallen jeweled adornment there, so scratch these off of your list before the first!
3. Go through stack of papers on desk and either file it or throw it out.
This is a long time coming. Shred important documents that you throw away.
4. Take pile of stuff to Goodwill.
For some reason I just can't seem to get that Goodwill pile to Goodwill! Use this link for a donation center near you.
5. Hang 1 picture you've been meaning to hang. Just one.
I have more than one, but it's a start. It's also something Maxwell recommended in his 20/20 home cure.
6. Book appointments for the next six months.
I can think of one million reasons to not do this. In actuality it will take 20 minutes of my lunch break and I can take care of the dentist, hair cut and color appointments, veterinary and various other yearly doctor checkups.
7. Spend one hour cleaning out your email inbox.
My husband introduced me to this habit. Instead of keeping his mail in his inbox where it visually stressed him out. He archives his email and only leaves items that need following up in his inbox window.
8. Catch up with an old friend.
This is part of my New Years Resolution, so I thought I would get an early start on it.
9. Vacuum out car.
If you aren't a messy person this only needs to be done every 4 months.
10. Buy a book or two of stamps.
These are handy to have, especially after holiday gifting has subsided. Make sure you buy the "forever" stamps that will hold their value if postal rates rise.
Smart & Simple Small Space Solution: Angela & Tania's "Murphy Table"
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
Why I Became a 1-Gallon Homebrewer
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
I kept my New Year's resolution this year: I found a job. It's cheating a bit of course, since it's not really a resolution, more like normal life, but still, I tell myself I've got a streak of keeping resolutions going now, so I have to keep next year's resolutions too...Hope this ultra-scientific psychological reasoning works :-)
Congratulations Hannavdb!
I really, really like #2 and #6 and plan to employ them- although I tend to book most appointments at the end of the previous one. But I must ask: Who in the world is such an immaculate person that their car only needs to be vacuumed out every 4 months? Does this include a person who actually drives their own car? This includes the floor boards, where leaves, dirt, and debris from your shoes land? No, really, I'd like to know.
MsDonnaGirl, I only have to clean my car every now and then too. I have no kids (so backseat is never dirty) no animals, and I live in a mild climate so no snow, not too much rain, etc. Again, it's the readers list for herself.
I am extremely curious what your actual resolution is, Micki! What is going to take you an hour a week?
I'm intrigued by the notion -- of setting aside an appointed time every week to do... something. Sitting down at 4 pm on a Sunday to...write letters? do yoga? have tea with a rotating cast of friends? stare idly? read? WHAT! Curiousity consumes me.
pam h
howto runyourlife.blogspot.com
pamh, I was initially hesitant to share my resolution because it involves my friends! I'm planning on taking one night a week to sit down for an hour and call friends I have not spoken to in a while to catch up. I'm closing my door, no interruptions allowed! Whether it's talking to one person for an hour, or leaving messages for 10 I just don't do it enough. Period. I didn't want my friends to start guessing when they will be getting their phone call ;)
I'm sad to say that facebook has kept me up to date on almost everyone... but it's just not the same and I don't want great relationships to fizzle out. That hour could also be used to write a note to a friend, birthday card, etc. Just doing something that isn't email or facebook. Call it a throwback resolution :)
MsDonnaGirl,
I'm glad to hear you like a couple on the list. 4 months may be pushing it on the car but like krrlevine18, mild Dallas weather and no kids keep the car pretty clean. I shake out the carpets and throw out trash when needed, but the deep vacuum cleaning in all the nooks and crannies I don't have to do that often.
I definitely started a deep-clean of my bedroom last night. Man did it need it!
#2 is something that may have to wait until after the first, simply because my sewing machine is employed with making gifts for people right now!
I keep a little laundry basket next to my machine for all of my "you should fix this one of these days" projects.
The Goodwill trip mentioned in #4 was made in September after a major clothing purge. I took EVERYTHING out of my laundry, closet, and dressers, and completely reorganized my clothes. When I itemized everything and tallied it up, I figured out I donated something like $525 worth of clothes to Goodwill!
And as for #9 - my car - I plan to have my Jeep detailed when I get new tires put on. It'll be my way of rewarding her for good behavior at the dealer.
---www.bymaggie.com---
MsDonnaGirl, I just traded in my 11 year old Acura for a new Prius. (yay!) (expept for the bills -- :^( ) I only vaccuumed the Acura about once a year, if that -- no kids, no pets loose in the car, no other passengers very often, litter bag... I'd sometimes shake out the mats, but it really didn't need much cleaning.
As for resolutions, I don't make them. I long ago decided to start doing the kind of thing people save up for resolutions (like lose weight, or exercise more) in the moment I finally decided to do them. I found that if I made it a "resolution", I wouldn't be psychologically ready to take the step in January, so I never followed through.
I'm going to log out so I can check off 2 and 5.
Wow. Once a year, you say? I must be doing something wrong. I am not being sarcastic, either, I am serious. No kids here, and the dog rarely if ever rides in the car (and is bolted to his seat when he does), but I can't fathom the quarterly vacuum schedule. But I could just be programmed differently on this one, and overdoing it in the process. I don't consider my car "clean" unless the dash has been Armor All-ed down and vacuumed with a new "tree" under the seat like the old man taught me. That's every month or 2, at least. Well, sometimes I skip the new tree...
Micki! I like it. This notion of making an appointment with yourself (that does not involve the gym.. that is an appointment I just won't keep) is an inspiring one.
I am adopting your hour, but making it for old fashioned letter and card writing. I will buy stamps and everything! I think much of life is having what you need on hand. (For instance, I reupholstered 2 footstools last night during an argument with my boyfriend because I had the scissors, fabric, screw driver and staple gun laid out and ready to go. We settled the argument and I finished a project I'd been putting off. Win/win. Would have been a win even if we didn't settle the argument because I really wanted to get those stools done.)
My dedicated hour will also involve a tiny bottle of champagne, which will make me actually sit down to do it.
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com
If I could find a job, life would be good!
I'm not much for new year's resolutions; I feel like every day is a new start.