2008 Resolution Revisited – The Truth

Last year I wrote about my resolution to get organized in a post titled Anal Retentive Compulsions in 2008.

In July I saw that people were still reading that post and took another look. Then I cleaned up and organized my office – which was still a mess – and posted the transformation in Resolutions Revisited.

If, 6 months later you realize that people are going to hold you accountable it’s a good motivation not to fail. To fail is hard on the soul – to fail in public is enough to make me clean my room and get organized like I said I wanted to in the first place.

I’m going to cultivate anal retentive organization to the point of compulsion. That way in 2009, 2010, 2011 . . . (you get the picture), I won’t ever have to think about it again.

I wrote.

Well, do I look anything like Kate Gosselin, mother of twins and sextuplets AND the most organized and sometimes anal and compulsive woman on reality television to you?

But, did I accomplish my goal?

Absolutely.

My house is pretty dang organized. It’s a little messy frequently because we have two kids. Hey I saw how the rest of America lives on Oprah’s Clean Up Your Messy House and I’ve got some relatives who have this hoarding gene going on. Compared to that I’m a dream housekeeper.

Every few months – around birthdays and Christmas and the change of seasons – I go through the toys and clothes and donate the ones we’ve outgrown.

Now that we’ve got a large enough house for the necessary storage our world is a billion times more organized. And I realize you have to keep working at it. You’re not going to be “organized” and then walk off and leave it for 10 years and have it stay that way.

Between Christmas and New Year’s is a great time to look at the messes and clutter piles and clean them up. By New Year’s Eve I’m going to sort through the 2008 photos and put them on a disk for storage and buy a photo book of the ones I enjoy best. Organized. It seems like the perfect time because no one is really going full throttle with other things during that week.

I’ve learned this great lesson this year. If I don’t take the time to organize my life – my things, my time, my email, my day, my work load, my schedule, my priorities – it will cost me unnecessary grief.

It was always the time to do the tedious and meticulous work of organizing that held me back. No one has ever lied on their resume more than I did when I copied “detail oriented” on my resume. Laughing Out Loud. I am not naturally detail oriented. Details, until my 35th year have seemed like such a waste of good time and energy when there was a big picture to think about. But, as they say God is in the details. The meaning lies in taking the time, slowing down the process, not missing it by rushing through, making life easier by putting things in their proper places.

I’m a million times more organized in my house and I’m becoming a million times more organized in my work. I’ve made sure I take time for my exercise and meditation and friendships.

In truth it is not wanting to waste money on organizational tools that has held me back so many times before. In July I realized my office was unorganized because I didn’t want to waste money on a $7 file hanger. Stupid. But, I get it now. The tools save me so much time and energy it’s not a waste. I’m learning to invest in the tools. Enter new iphones that will revolutionize my inability to follow and keep a calendar. It will be a great organizational investment.

If you trace any bad habit back far enough there is always a wrong or incorrect thought behind it.

If you change the thought you can change the habit.

My thought was: It’s a waste of time and money to get organized.

I no longer believe that’s true.

I’ve changed the thought to: It’s a waste of time and money NOT to buy and learn to use the proper tools to be organized.

In 2009 I’m going to keep up the skills and lessons I learned in 2008. I’m going to put more of these lessons into my work and my work day.

I’ll be so productive in 2009 I’ll look like an overnight success.

Tell me, did anyone else make a similar goal last year and did you stick with it?