There’s something about a fresh year to inspire a fresh start. (It feels like a fresh year to me at the beginning of every calendar year and at the beginning of a new school year.) That means lots of goals and resolutions about getting organized, better managing time, etc. (Other things, too, of course, like losing weight, getting in shape, cutting bad habits, etc. But this post isn’t about those things.)
At just over halfway through the month, some of us are realizing we need to rethink things a bit. Or that we forgot to set goals altogether. Or that it’s taken us this long to get our act together, due to circumstances. (*cough cough*) So I wanted to share some resources and ideas for setting goals and/or getting organized. Hopefully you’ll find something here that will inspire you, help you toward a goal you’ve already set for this year, or both!
Goals and Other Ways to Focus Your Efforts
When it comes to making plans for the year, there are (obviously) options. You can, of course, set the classic goals. I have annual goals, which I then break down for monthly goals. But there are other ways to challenge yourself for a period of time, or to focus your efforts for a year.
- How to Set Good Goals
- Making Goals Definable, Doable, & with Deadlines
- 101 Things in 1001 Days – This is a good period of time to allow for some lengthier and/or seasonally-dependent goals. It’s something of a cross between longer-term goals and a short-term bucket list.
- Bucket List – This is a list of things you’d like to do/experience at some point before you “kick the bucket.”
- 30 by 30 – A little late for me 😉 but this is like a bucket list of things to do before you’re 30.
- 7 Things in 2014 – This one is pretty cool because it has one thing to “fill in the blank” for each of 7 sentences.
- 14 in 2014 – Mostly, these are folks planning to run 14 races in 2014. But you can make your own variation on the theme. In 2007, there was a trend of “seven sevens for 2007,” where you’d list seven things you wanted to accomplish in seven different areas.
- Intention for the Year – Some people prefer to just choose something of a “theme” for the year to focus on.
Of course, you need to have things to put on those lists. That, in my opinion, is where it can get tricky. I know what I need to get done, but…well, I’m a doer by nature. What I really need to work on is just being – you know, enjoying life, being in the moment, that sort of thing. And I tend to come up blank when I need to write down concrete ways to stretch myself in that area. So I need inspiration. Like these:
- Day Zero
- BucketList-Ideas.com
- BucketList.org
- 43 Things
- Barefoot List
- 30 Day Challenges
- See Katy Do
- movie or book lists like the Newbery Medal list, the Modern Library’s 100 best novels list, Ebert’s 101 Movies You Must See Beore You Die, or the top-grossing movies of all time
- Is there something that needs to be said?
- A new skill or hobby to learn?
- A list you’d like to check off?
Ask yourself, what (or who/where) do I want to:
- start?
- stop?
- learn?
- acquire?
- meet?
- memorize?
- know?
- visit?
- try?
- write?
- experience?
- say?
- accomplish?
- find?
Tools & Tips for Managing Time & Tasks
Once you have a list of goals or tasks for yourself, you need to organize the way you go about tackling them, or nothing will really get done. How you do this is personal – we all think and process a bit differently – but here are some ideas.
- Getting Things Done – I love this system, for its concreteness. The ideas of “next actions” and “contexts” were life-changing for me.
- weekly household routines, for the recurring stuff
- Habit List
- timer with multiple alarms – Some of you have cell phones with fancy alarms you could use for this purpose. I still have a “stupid phone,” 😉 so I like having multiple alarms available to alert me to “landmarks” in my day.
- Bullet Journal – Good for the “brain dump” stage of planning, even if you have an overall system (like GTD) that works well for you.
- Workflowy – awesome online list-making tool
- Afformations – If you want to take your thoughts captive, and think positively rather than negatively, this is a method that actually makes sense and works for me. Usually my brain just argues with what I know to be true. This works around that. (It’s okay to not agree with everything in the book – you can still apply the underlying principle!)
Organizing “Stuff”
Then, of course, you have to organize your actual “stuff.” Trickier for some of us than others! What you use will depend on what the stuff is that you have to organize, but these should get you started:
- Organizing from the Inside Out – Hands-down the best organization book I’ve ever read. It will actually walk you through the process of organization, and help you identify “blocks” to your organizing, as well.
- LibraryThing – If you have a large book collection like we do, this can help you keep track of what you’ve got. (And if you need to purge your collection, try PaperBackSwap.)
- Declutter with a challenge like 31 Days to Declutter, 52 Week Declutter Challenge, 52 Things in 52 Weeks, 8 Weeks to a Less Cluttered Home, or De-Clutter Your Home in 91 Days
- Don’t forget Pinterest for organization ideas!
- Organize DIY
- Dollar store organization ideas
Other Things to Organize/Manage
- Manage your money
.
- Manage your menus, either by ordering menus
sent to you premade, or by using a cloud-based or desktop-based system to DIY
- Get reminders of important dates like birthdays and anniversaries, or even have cards sent for you.
- Keep track of your Bible reading.
Leave a Reply