Earlier today, I introduced you to my newest project, The Inside Job, a personal quest to become a better me. When I sat down to write my annual list of goals and dreams, I also chose twelve overarching themes to focus on, one for each month.
Each month, I will introduce a new theme along with a set of goals to accomplish within the month and implement moving forward. The order of all twelve themes currently escapes me, but I am sure of one thing:
ORGANIZATION is the gateway to the next eleven months of self-improvement and subsequent topics.
Without organization, all other goals are simply floating in the mire, a mixed bag of who-the hell-knows-what. So, January is for establishing order. Order within my home, within my head and within my incredibly shrinking schedule. Here's what it loosely looks like...
Each month, I will introduce a new theme along with a set of goals to accomplish within the month and implement moving forward. The order of all twelve themes currently escapes me, but I am sure of one thing:
ORGANIZATION is the gateway to the next eleven months of self-improvement and subsequent topics.
Without organization, all other goals are simply floating in the mire, a mixed bag of who-the hell-knows-what. So, January is for establishing order. Order within my home, within my head and within my incredibly shrinking schedule. Here's what it loosely looks like...
The breakdown is somewhat more complicated and very organic, so bear with me. Those broad concepts are a fine starting point, but now I've got to figure out how to set measurable goals for the month.
Here's a list of my January to-do's...
- Organize an area of the house each week. Just one. Each week, a little bit at a time. When my surroundings are less cluttered, so is my mind. More on my current habits later.
Week One: Office
Week Two: Kitchen/Bathroom
Week Three: Bedroom/Closet
Week Four: Those godawful boxes in the shed.
While I'm organizing these areas, I will also be purging, donating and simplifying. Less is more. Furthermore, I DO NOT need to keep things like my certificate of completion from traffic violation school. I just don't.
- Lists, Calendars, Schedules- Use them. Diligently. I'm fairly organized, but once I stray from the routine of these things, bad things happen, like overlooking a bill and sometimes good things too, like paying a bill twice. I did both in 2011.
- Manage my time efficiently. That means saying "no" when I need to and removing existing activities if they do not serve my top priorities. This also means no overbooking my schedule. Easier said than done.
- Find my rhythm. I know it's there. Somewhere. Come out, come out wherever you are.
- Take advantage of productivity highs. My brain turns to mush in the afternoons so I aim to tune in during the mornings (when I am most productive) or right after a power nap (yes, I nap). While in said productive zones, I will focus on doing actual work instead of doing "other" stuff (blog rabbit hole, anyone?) that simply looks like work.
I've opted to record my progress daily within my personal journal and share the highlights on the blog weekly. I hope you'll follow along and share some of your goals and challenges with me. Now, onward!
Here's a list of my January to-do's...
- Organize an area of the house each week. Just one. Each week, a little bit at a time. When my surroundings are less cluttered, so is my mind. More on my current habits later.
Week One: Office
Week Two: Kitchen/Bathroom
Week Three: Bedroom/Closet
Week Four: Those godawful boxes in the shed.
While I'm organizing these areas, I will also be purging, donating and simplifying. Less is more. Furthermore, I DO NOT need to keep things like my certificate of completion from traffic violation school. I just don't.
- Lists, Calendars, Schedules- Use them. Diligently. I'm fairly organized, but once I stray from the routine of these things, bad things happen, like overlooking a bill and sometimes good things too, like paying a bill twice. I did both in 2011.
- Manage my time efficiently. That means saying "no" when I need to and removing existing activities if they do not serve my top priorities. This also means no overbooking my schedule. Easier said than done.
- Find my rhythm. I know it's there. Somewhere. Come out, come out wherever you are.
- Take advantage of productivity highs. My brain turns to mush in the afternoons so I aim to tune in during the mornings (when I am most productive) or right after a power nap (yes, I nap). While in said productive zones, I will focus on doing actual work instead of doing "other" stuff (blog rabbit hole, anyone?) that simply looks like work.
I've opted to record my progress daily within my personal journal and share the highlights on the blog weekly. I hope you'll follow along and share some of your goals and challenges with me. Now, onward!
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