Organize for 2008

If you made a New Year's resolution to get better organized for 2008, you may already be dreading the flipping of the calendar. Unfortunately most New Year's resolutions cause unnecessary stress when we fail during the first few days of the new year. To help avoid that, I have a suggestion.

Instead of making a resolution to be better organized during the next year, why not look back on the past year and think about some areas where you were better organized, or at least improved a little. Then give yourself a big pat on the back for a job well done. That will take you into the new year with a positive motivation to stay organized (and you will no doubt subconsciously improve). That is far better than beating yourself up when you don't keep a New Year's resolution to "get organized if it is the last thing I do".

Here is one of my improvements over the year before. I usually put up our outdoor Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. Nine times out of ten that is also the first really cold blast of weather we get here in Eastern Nebraska. So I end up freezing in the cold wind, struggling with thick gloves to attach lights and garland to a frozen house, pounding stakes into frozen ground while wishing I had done this when the weather was warmer.

This year I fixed that. I watched the weather report, and sure enough, our warm weather was coming to an end the week of Thanksgiving. So that Monday, while the temperature was 71 degrees, I was out basking in the sun in a short-sleeved t-shirt putting up our outdoor decorations. The next day the high was 47, 31 the day after that, and in the low 40s with blustery winds the weekend I normally would have been getting ready for Christmas.

By being a little more organized, which simply involved thinking ahead and watching the weather report, I had a much more pleasant experience putting out our decorations. We didn't turn them on until after Thanksgiving, but it sure was nice when all I needed to do was step out into the cold, turn on the timer, and head back into the warm house. So I'm giving myself a pat on the back for that improvement in my organization last year, and will no doubt be watching the weather report again next year as Thanksgiving approaches.

I hope your holidays have been good, and have a safe and happy New Year!