Old Year Resolutions

It’s the season for New Year resolutions, the time when many people form an intention to change, for the better, some aspect of their behavior.

Resolutions are the butt of many jokes, the source of much frustration, and often forgotten by February. But forming an intention is just one meaning of the word “resolve.” I like to adopt an additional sense, which is to clarify, to bring to an agreeable conclusion, to achieve closure.

Once I’m through decking the halls, I want to clear the decks. Christmas creates a natural transition time. It discombobulates my house as we accommodate the tree, decorations, and visitors. It overthrows my schedule as we usually take a stay-at-home vacation at the end of the year. Anytime all the pieces of your life are up in the air is a pretty good time to put them together differently as they come back down.

I feel I invite shiny new things and experiences into my life by releasing some of the stifling old. I create Old Year resolutions, to enter the New Year with more clarity and freedom.

Someone once told me a good organizational slogan is: Do, Dump, or Delegate. It works for me, especially when I add the option to Transform.

In the Do category are a number of what I call “tiny projects.” For example, right now I have half a dozen emails I need to send relaying information to various people. Each one will involve a few minutes of research. There’s no specific deadline for any of them, so they’ve been lingering at the bottom of my to-do list for a couple of months. Since I don’t want to drag them with me into the New Year, and since I know I’m definitely going to do them, I’ll suffer less from the pangs of procrastination if I just knuckle down and get it done. They’re on my calendar today; by tomorrow I’ll be free.

Also lurking around my life are some larger projects I haven’t gotten around to. For instance, I went to a writers’ conference in October. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all my hand-written notes neatly typed and searchable by computer? It would, but let’s face it, it’s not gonna happen. So I’ll Dump that idea and, instead, what I’ll Do is store them in a paper file. This is an example of Transform.

I have a number of other projects I can Transform from a painstaking venture into something that fulfills most of the intent but takes less time. Others can go into the Dump category. If they haven’t been touched in a year or more, it’s time to let go.

Goodwill is the beneficiary of the urge to Dump stuff. All year long, I have one or more bags accumulating donations. At the end of the year, I’ll tear through the closets and cabinets one last time, making the house more commodious.

I also give myself end-of-year media amnesty. I’ll Dump unread periodicals, newsletters, emails. I’ll erase old unwatched programs on my DVR. I’ve finally had to admit that there’s more great information and entertainment than I can possible consume. It weighs me down to let it pile up too much. Some of it’s become too stale to even bother about. Anything that’s had plenty of time to make it to the top of the heap, but hasn’t, is a candidate for resolution.

Do and Dump can be relatively easy. It’s Delegate I often have problems with. I once made a large needlepoint tapestry, but didn’t know how to finish it for hanging. I wound up keeping it around unfinished for so long I finally gave it away so I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I would’ve been better off admitting I didn’t know how to do it, accepting that as OK, and going for help. It’s the acceptance part that’s hard.

I admit I rarely get around to tying up all the loose ends, but I do manage to face the New Year with at least a bit more clarity and freedom, my favorite form of Old Year resolution.