Tracking One (or More) New Year's Resolution(s) - January

[ejchase]

Hi All,

I'm thinking I'd like to pick one new year's resolution to track here with the support of this group month by month throughout 2018.

The resolution I want to work on is being more organized at work. I was really disorganized this year, and that created a lot of unnecessary stress for myself and I think also resulted in me doing a less-than-stellar job at times.

I've had some success with setting benchmarks for some of my goals in the last few years, so I'm going to establish some benchmarks each month for reaching this goal and then report here how I'm doing at hitting the benchmarks.

For January, my first benchmark is simply to spend 20 hours organizing my office. I actually have a new office, so everything from my old office is in boxes waiting to be unpacked, which is obviously a great opportunity for me to declutter and organize. In addition to making it more organized, I also want to make it an attractive and pleasing space, someplace it feels good for me and my students to spend time in.

My other benchmark for January is simply to reflect on and draft some possible monthly benchmarks for the next year. I'm sure they'll change and evolve as the year goes on, but I'd like to have a rough plan to work with.

I find I do better at meeting goals when I focus on only one or two at a time, so this is the only resolution I'm going to work on here.

If anybody wants to join in by posting about one or more New Year's resolutions you want to track here, that would be great!

[Chicken lady]

Well, my New Years resolutions are more about continuing to focus the shape of my life, but there are three areas I want to concentrate on organizing - photos/scrapbooks, my barn studio, and the basement.

i will try to match you the 20 hours in January.

[mschrisgo2]

I also have 3 things I want to work on this month. First, finish the paper mess that I abandoned to enjoy the holiday season. Second, finish sorting photographs, and scrapbook my daughter's age 13 thru high school graduation, to give her for her birthday on Feb. 12. Third, make 4-5 outfits for my great niece's new MyLife doll (18in. I already have a pattern and plenty of fabric in my sewing boxes). I will do an average of 1 hour/day, starting 1/2. The first is a chore, 2 and 3 will be fun!

[ejchase]

So nice to have company, Chicken Lady, and mschrisgo2!

[mschrisgo2]

1 hour done.

[mschrisgo2]

2 hours today :) Discovered a way to deal with my resistance: sort paper while on the phone! With less focus on the task, it was way easier, extremely easy, to see what was trash. I separated it into recycle vs. shred and did the shredding after my phone calls. Emptied a bankers box, and filed a 4 in stack, took out the shredding and recycle!
3 hours subtotal.

How are you doing, ejchase and Chicken Lady?

[Chicken lady]

I am just struggling with sliding back into daily life so far. Probably won’t get to anything extra until the weekend.

[ejchase]

Good going, mschrisgo2!

Like Chicken Lady, I am trying to get some momentum after being away on vacation and also dealing with a health issue with one of my family members. I might not be able to start tackling work/office issues until early next week, but thanks for the inspiration!

[mschrisgo2]

2 more hours, 1 this morning, 1 this evening. 2 more boxes emptied, mostly into shred/recycle. Subtotal. 5 hours.

As a bonus, i discovered completed scrapbook/ photo pages for DD's middle school years. So I only have high school left to do.

CL and ejchase, when the time is right you will work on you goals. You're both working, I am retired, and it makes a huge difference. I would have done nothing but work this week if I were still in the classroom.

[mschrisgo2]

2 more hours today, for a total of 7 so far.

I have now been through all the boxes and piles. I have quite a bit of filing to do next, and I am still intent on only having 1 plastic bankers box of "permanent" files, so i will need to whittle that down some more. Then I have a smaller box of working files.

I'm going to try to get the filing done over the weekend; the heavy rain is supposed to continue, so I have no desire to be out and about.

Then Monday and Tuesday I can sew doll clothes! Yay!

After that I will tackle the photos and scrapbook projects.

[Chicken lady]

Mschrisgo2,

you our are Amazing! Over 1/3 done the first week!

i am going to try to focus on those areas some today. Mostly I am going to try to take a break and take today for me - not what other people want done, not the next thing I need to do for school, just a day off! Dh is home though, so it may be a challenge. He always feels entitled to direct my time. (Come help me with this, I thought you were going to do that...)

[nswef]

CL I hope your day gets to be YOURS! You surely deserve it. Mschrisgo- You are powering through amazingly quickly. EJ, the writing consistency is admirable. I'm doing Story Storm which is with a picture book writing group...an idea or as many as possible a day in January..then flesh one out. I have lots of ideas, my problem is FINISHING any of them. So, my goal is to get one a week start to finish, then in Feb. do editing. You all inspire me!

[Chicken lady]

Finally got started. So far half an hour in a guest room moving things around and grouping scrapbook items together.

i found three books I am willing to get rid of and freed up a small shelf to move out to the barn studio for organizing inventory.

[mschrisgo2]

1.5 hr this morning, 8.5 so far. (Goal is 30 hours in January)

Taking a break, I'm getting bleary-eyed and the dogs are clamoring for attention and exercise. Time for a game of fetch down the hallway, since it is still pouring rain.

CL congrats on getting scrapbook items together, freeing up an inventory shelf- and liberating 3 books.

nswef and ejchase, you have awakened the writer in me! I feel Feb goals forming...

[Chicken lady]

Oops, it was ejchase who pledged 20 hours.

i took a nap by the fire. Sometimes it is good to stop in the pursuit of happiness and just be happy.

[mschrisgo2]

CL, if that's what it takes to be happy, do that. :laff:

[Chicken lady]

Today I spent 65 minutes in the basement - sorting things into like groups, putting away stuff that had been carried down there “for now” and bringing scrapbooking stuff and home decor upstairs (if it isn’t seasonal, it doesn’t belong in the basement - either i’m Going to use it, or i’m Not.) total 1 hr, 35 minutes.

[ejchase]

Hi All - Very inspired by your progress here! I've done NOTHING on my office goals yet, but hope to get started this week. I reported on my progress with my writing in the "Give it 100" thread.

[ejchase]

I'm doing Story Storm which is with a picture book writing group...an idea or as many as possible a day in January..then flesh one out. I have lots of ideas, my problem is FINISHING any of them. So, my goal is to get one a week start to finish, then in Feb. do editing. You all inspire me!

This sounds great, nswef!

[mschrisgo2]

One hour today, half shredding, collecting recycling for tomorrow's pickup. The other half hour was spent getting fabric and sewing things together for the doll clothes project :)
We have a forecast-to-be hellacious storm coming Monday and Tuesday, I have things all ready to work on! Back to finish- Hopefully!- the filing first thing tomorrow.

9.5 hours subtotal

[Chicken lady]

Mschrisgo2, you are doing great!

i spent 45 minutes on the basement. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you are avoiding other things. (Student evaluations)

total 2 hrs, 20 minutes

[mschrisgo2]

Another hour between yesterday and today. Got called on to help with sick dogs.

[Yppej]

I want to toss 95 items in January, 94 in February, 93 in March, etc. So far this month I have gotten rid of 27 things. (Last August I started this project with 100.)

[nswef]

Yppej, That's a novel way to motivate you!

[mschrisgo2]

Go, Yppej! you can do it!

[Chicken lady]

Yppej, I like it, the mess is smaller so less work for the same improvement...

worked in in the basement today. Don’t know how long because I interwove it with putting away Christmas stuff (which goes in the basement.

i think I can safely take the running total to 3.5 hours.

[Chicken lady]

I woke up rediculously early today and put an hour in on the basement. 4.5 hours

I have a specific goal in mind:
step 1: clear a space against and in front of a specific wall
step 2: rip the nasty plastic baseboard off the wall, and clean it with bleach
step 3: patch the hole in the drywall
step 4: paint
step 5: reassemble my doll shelf that has been in pieces ever since dh decided we should replace the heating system
step 6: put the dolls on it.

i am hoping to finish steps 1&2 today.

[mschrisgo2]

CL, I love that you woke up early with a specific goal in mind! Hmm, the fruit of 'no school work' yesterday?

How big is the wall? How big is your doll shelf? Your dolls will be happy to be out of boxes again :)

[Chicken lady]

The wall is 84.5” long and 11’ high.

the shelf is 84” long and 8’ high.

i think the morning was both the fruit of truly relaxing and going to bed early yesterday, and also the excitement of an agreed on solution to something that has been bothering me for a long time.

[ejchase]

Good work, everybody!

The one thing I did this week towards getting more organized at work was that I took five boxes of stuff I had at home that belonged at work to work.

I will start on my office probably on Tuesday.

[Yppej]

I got rid of some papers and have 35 things to go in January. Also moved the rest of the bags of old insulation up from the basement. After this week's trash pickup I think they will all fit in the barrel and I will finally be rid of them.

[nswef]

Yppj, Congrats on getting rid of the insulation and more paper!

[Teacher Terry]

Everyone is making such great progress! CL: is your basement a finished space and that is why you are displaying your dolls there?

[Chicken lady]

The old basement is... semi finished?

bare concrete floor, concrete walls painted white or cream (needs a repaint) drywall painted white dividing the space up and making three closets around the stairwell, exposed pipes and ducts and insulation in the ceiling, heat that sort of works (it stays about ten degrees cooler than upstairs) storage racks along concrete walls. I have added one area rug.

but, it is mine. It is the space where most of the things that are just mine end up. My desk is in the basement (as a result, my work is always all over the kitchen table and I just store things on my desk. I am light sensitive. This system is stupid. The wall where I am going to put my shelf is a drywall wall. Some of the dolls are currently out in the guest rooms. The kids complain about them every time they come. So the general consensus is that since the doll collection annoys dh and makes the guest rooms less hospitable, it must go to the basement.

i thought that when the kids moved out, I would turn one of their rooms into my work room/office, but the addition of two queen sized beds by dh (we have two children who married right out of college) precludes my desk from coming upstairs. It simply won’t fit.

the new basement is completely unfinished and houses the ping pong table and my exercise bike.

i got the plastic baseboard stripped off, but haven’t bleached. Total 4 hrs, 45 min.

[Yppej]

That's a big project that it's already taken over half a work day.

[Chicken lady]

Yppej, i’m a hoarder. I don’t think you were around when I used to talk about it more - it drove UL nuts and I got the impression it was really bothering some other people as well, so I pretty much stopped. I’ve since found a good online support group aimed at overcoming hoarding that is helping a lot.

anyway, the parts of my house that are above ground are good - a little messy, a few problem areas, but “normal”. The basement and studio are still really bad. I won’t finish this year. So, the first thing that takes so much time on the “put the shelf up” project is clearing space to work. It takes even more time because I am determined not to just drag everything back into a more solid pile that will increase my work later, so as I am moving things I am trying to sort by type, clean up, organize, and put away what I can.

the project will pay interest though, because once the dolls are on the shelf there will be empty shelves upstairs (to move books or pottery) and empty boxes (to recycle) and bins (to use for better sorting and storing) in the basement. And a big empty space where the disassembled shelf was stored.

still haven’t bleached.

[mschrisgo2]

Aw, CL, I was picturing your dolls going into, I guess the addition, at least some where in the general living space, and I’m feeling sad for you that they are relegated to the basement storage room. And that really isn’t an acceptable space for your desk, either. It’s like your work and interests don’t count. Not ok, at all.

i have been browsing online for over an hour now- I am avoiding my project. And I think part of the reason is the “dividends” - I have empty plastic bins here now that should be swapped out with the cardboards... and I guess I am just being very resistant to this project growing— I want it to be DONE. I will do an hour today....

[Chicken lady]

Well, the wall is clean, the random nails have been removed from it, and the holes have been squared off (all the damage was from previous owners and simply has not been addressed yet.)

someday when I have the basement cleaned out and organized, I will be ready to discuss my release from it. (Dh has an upstairs study off our bedroom, he could learn to share with someone who was neat....)

meanwhile, I will someday paint the basement floor and put down pretty rugs and have the walls white and hang drapes or maybe tapestries or quilts in front of the storage, and it will be a lovely retreat from the heat of summer and I can add warm lighting for early winter mornings and dark evenings. And the sun won’t damage my dolls.

but first I have to deal with all these blasted boxes.... :D

I didn’t count the time, because none of it was really on the original project - the stuff. When I put the dolls out, I will count all the time, because they are “stuff” even though I will be fussing and playing.

did you do your hour?

[Teacher Terry]

I think it is a shame you can't have an office on the main floor. I have one that has a double bed in it. The room is small but I have my desk, computer and printer too. Sometimes when I have a lot of paper to spread out I used the bed as a desk too. I only need to clear that when we have guests. You certainly deserve your own office. Put your foot down Missie:))

[Chicken lady]

I appreciate the thought, but I do better when he makes rules - I get to negotiate, but the thing is, I am the hoarder. Being a hoarder is not a rational thing. I can do things for him that I cannot do for myself. In the absence of outside pressure, I make bad decisions. If I didn’t HAVE to carve living space out of the basement, it would still be a maze of piles in danger of crushing someone to death. When I make good decisions - for whatever reasons - and see the results, it gets easier next time.

Also, I want very much for my children to be able to spontaneously spend the night. It matters to me, a lot. The bedrooms are small. The men are big. One room still wouldn’t hold the desk even with a double bed.

I often spread projects out on the beds. Currently one is covered in laundry to be folded and the other has some framed pictures laid out.

some day I will ask to put my desk in his study.

[Teacher Terry]

i understand about the kids. Mine are so important to me too. Even though my office is small it must be bigger then yours. I think you have been making awesome progress. Hugs:))

[mschrisgo2]

Yes, i did my hour today, and then some, in fact, 6 hours altogether today. That brings me to 16.5. And i am still not finished. I can see the end of the financial/legal papers. I have probably 2 hours of filing left to do.

I have boxed the bits amd bobs of "inspirational" pictures and other crafty things, 2 boxes. I have a box of journals that i have decided to burn- really, they served their purpose when i wrote them, no reason to keep them anymore. Then i will be Done. Probably 4 or so more hours.

[Chicken lady]

Nice mschrisgo2!

i bet it will feel good to have that all done.

Sorry about the derailment.

[mschrisgo2]

Half hour today, up to 17 hours. Swapped out the cardboard for the plastic, broke down cardboard.

[mschrisgo2]

One hour of filing and a little bit of shredding today, 18 hours so far.

likely to get a lot done tomorrow- have another task I’m avoiding, lol

[Yppej]

I got rid of 13 things I got from DB and DSIL when they moved out of the area years ago - straws, pepper packets (I don't even like pepper), cheap coasters, cheap plastic silverware and unused but now crumpled napkins inside plastic wrap they saved from old restaurant or airline trips. I think my entire family has the philosophy of don't throw out anything that could ever possibly be useful, and that if it didn't originate with my grandparents they definitely cemented it during the Great Depression. So here we are spending money we could be saving on airline tickets but saving the little sporks.

[mschrisgo2]

Four hours today... 22 subtotal.
Maybe tomorrow...

[ejchase]

mschrisgo@, you are making incredible progress!!

Yppej, good for you for getting some things out.

I still haven't gotten much work done on my goal but am hoping this is the week to get caught up.

[mschrisgo2]

2 hours Saturday... then life happened and I didn't get back to it until today...

2 more hours...

and

YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!! Can you hear me shouting from the rooftop?!?!?!? FINISHED!!!! 7:15 pm Sunday evening, 1/21/2018. 26 hours total.

Project complete, all filing done, neatly labeled into one plastic file box, and 6 skinny working files in my desk drawer. All shredding emptied, and recycling out for pickup in the wee hours of the morning. WHEW!!!

[mschrisgo2]

How is everyone else doing?

CL, I hope the evils didn't win :)

[rosarugosa]

Congratulations, Mschrisgo2! You should be very proud!

[Yppej]

Excellent mschrigo. I only threw away two things this past weekend, but today is trash day so the rest of the insulation should be picked up and I will have room in my bin for decluttering next weekend.

[Chicken lady]

Mschrisgo2 - congratulations! That is amazing!

i am sick. My car died. I got an extension on one class due to technical difficulties and the flu on the part of the person who had to fix the technical difficulties before I can submit them - so, last class due today. Today’s theme: hot tea and evils.

[mschrisgo2]

Thanks for the congrats :)

CL, Congratulations on conquering the evils!

(Life was so much simpler when we hand-wrote them. I could write all grades and comments for a whole class of 32 in about 4 hours. With the electronic submission I had to select 251 responses for each student- and it took an average of half an hour each, because I could never get through a session without a software/computer glitch. But they made it easier for teachers. Not. ... sorry, rant over.)

[Chicken lady]

Absolutely agree on the handwriting! It’s not composing them that takes so bloody long. It’s formatting, labeling, changing file types, and uploading the dang things. And when i’m not looking, spellcheck changes their names.

anyway, now I can go back to the basement/studio/scrapbook/photos goal for the month. We’ll see how far I get.

[ejchase]

Congrats, mschrisgo2 and Chicken Lady!

Chicken Lady, I hope you feel better soon!

[Yppej]

I finished my January tosses and have started working on my 94 for February. I brought all 18 photo albums out so I can go through them. Found an old oversize photo calendar and it has been sitting around since 1996 so some of the pages got stuck together and ruined. Use it or lose it I guess. I also have photo memory boxes my mother gave with not just pictures but things like a handkerchief from the old country. And then there are baby books, family typed up memoirs, etc. I have two bookcases full of things that are emotionally vested to sort through. So it's a good project for winter when I have more time.

[mschrisgo2]

I spent 2 hours yesterday gathering all photos and scrapbooking materials, and I set up my worktable.

However, in that process I found another bankers box full of--- Paper! Oh, the Horror! Just spent 2 hours today going through it, almost all into recycling, thankfully.

That brings me to a total of 30 hours for the month, which was my original goal in hours, but I've only completed 1 of the 3 projects.
I am planning to spend 2-3 hours sewing doll clothes tomorrow. I need to pick up some skinny velcro when I'm out later today, so that project will get completed.
And it looks like the scrapbooking for DD is going to spill into Feb. If we celebrate her birthday after the 12th, I may make it...

[PS - Did I say I have a LOT of photos? well, yes, I do...]

[Yppej]

Mschrigo I'm glad I'm not the only one with a bunch.

Update: I didn't toss a lot of photos, but tonight I did consolidate and get rid of two albums that were falling apart, one dating back to 1965.

It was hard seeing my parents so young full of life, and now my father hobbles around and I don't know how much longer they will be alive. A coworker lost her older brother recently who is their age. So it is difficult work emotionally for me. I did an hour twenty minutes.

[mschrisgo2]

Yppej, good job on consolidating. Yes, the photos are an emotional project. Good for you for tackling yours.

I ended up dipping into mine (instead of sewing doll clothes) because my daughter asked me about photos of my youngest grandson. He will be 19 on February 21, and he has requested baby pictures and pictures of himself when he was younger, so she is busy putting a book together for him. The boys spent a lot of time with me during his 1-6 years, and then some special vacation trips during the following 7 years, so I did find some awfully cute pictures to contribute. I copied a few to keep for myself, and sorted out pictures of his brothers, too. After she finishes his book, she is going to do theirs, too.

So I got a good 4 hour start on my photo project. I have emptied 3 of the 8 photo boxes (shoe box size). I gave 2 of them to DD with the boys' pictures, and used the 3rd to store greeting cards for future events. Finally! After all these years, I have a designated place to put cards, instead of sticking them in a "safe place" and promptly forgetting them! And actually, I found enough birthday, Valentines and Mothers Day cards for this whole year!

[Yppej]

I picked something easier today, tossing old clothes, outdated resumes, and other papers. I stopped because the trash barrel is full.

[ejchase]

Yppej, a full trash barrel is a sign of success, I'd say.

Well, I FINALLY belatedly started working on my office today. I ended up focusing on other goals in January, and that is okay, but now I need to focus on this one. I have three weeks to get organized before school starts, and I'm going to be out of town for four days of that.

In any case, I spent 30 minutes on my office today and was able to throw away a lot of papers and collect about 15 books to give away. It's a start.

[mschrisgo2]

ejchase, Great Job on getting started in your office!

Yppej, easy is good, especially when you can make that kind of progress :) Way to go!

CL, I hope you can rejoin us in Feb.

I have been working on doll clothes- so much fun! (I also know what my goals are going to be for Feb...)

[Yppej]

Now that most of my tax forms are in I am starting to go through and throw away papers and also delete emails from my prior job that I don't need or want to think about. I am just waiting on one more form from my current job and the 1040 form and instruction booklet, then I can do my taxes and put away that folder cluttering up my room. It takes so long to get everything and I would have preferred to file early due to the Equifax data breach.

[mschrisgo2]

I filed my taxes last night. I use an online filing service, Express1040. Federal tax filing is free, $12.95 this year for state of California. I was getting annoyed that I hadn't gotten a couple of 1099R, then remembered I could retrieve them online. My taxes are pretty straight forward, standard deduction. Since I retired mid year, I have a big refund coming! I also was anxious to file as quickly as possible, due to all the data breaches. It was also really good to shred, and file the important pieces for 2017. Done!

[Yppej]

I threw away two old roof shingles this morning. They are about 3 to 4 feet long and do fit in the trash barrel, so now that I know that I aim to get as many more as I can fit in it out this weekend.

[Yppej]

How is everyone doing with their resolutions?

I am on track with decluttering, met my weight loss goal for the year, but have increased not decreased my caffeine consumption among other things, so a mixed bag for me.

[Chicken lady]

Haven’t touched the photos or scrapbooks.
the studio in the barn has been up and down and i’m not really sure if it’s better or worse.
one side of the basement is better, the other is worse.

i never finished the doll shelf and completely lost focus. I appreciate you bringing this back up though.

[Yppej]

I set 23 resolutions and have met 18 of them so far. I am working on caffeine reduction and hope to get the rusted out garbage disposal removed this week. (I have an appointment but wouldn't be surprised if no heat emergencies lead to a cancellation.)

My failed three resolutions all relate to work, including finding a job closer to home.

Among my successes are cutting my clothes expenditures from $1734.19 last year to $510.86 this year with no plans to buy anything in the remaining two months.

[Tammy]

Impressive

[Teacher Terry]

Y, I am super impressed too by all that you have accomplished. Congrats!

[Yppej]

Thank you. I am now working on draft ones for 2019.

[Chicken lady]

Really nice!

as for me,
the photos and scrap book materials are all now in the same room
the basement is much better. And the doll shelf is up.
the barn studio is also better and seeing more use.

in all, not as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as it could have been.

[Yppej]

Good for you CL.

[ejchase]

Very interesting and inspiring to read through this thread this morning and see what all of you accomplished in 2018!

Ironically, the resolution I started out with (being more organized at work) is one that mostly fell by the wayside for me this year. I *did* however meet a bunch of other goals - 2 batches of 40 hours of decluttering, 100 times of writing, lots of health goals (less alcohol and sugar and more walking). I would say I was *slightly* more organized at work this fall, but I do want to set that intention again in the new year and set some benchmarks to help me stay focused on it.

Thanks to all of you for serving as constant cheering section and inspiration!