Here it is. 2014. All sunny blue skies and puffy white clouds.
Yes people, it’s January resolution time. I’ve suggested resolutions, given links, tried to inspire at least one of you to go out and end poverty in the US, etc etc. All in a desperate attempt to avoid actually making my own resolutions and committing them to… screen… or whatever phrase we’re supposed to use now that paper has fallen so far out of favor.
Last year I made two resolutions and one of them was a complete and total failure.
My first one is coming along nicely. The one about being more financially responsible. Keeping track of what I spend, putting aside funds for future use (savings? could that be savings?) etc etc. Yay me. Still have a ways to go, but I’m in better shape now that I imagined I would ever be last year, so there.
My other resolution, the one I wrote about somewhat at length in this here blog, has been such a fiasco that I hardly know where to begin. Sure there have been extenuating circumstances when it comes to carving order out of the overflowing chaos that is my office. But I am still sitting here, trying to work amidst a pile of stuff, probably 75% of which I do not need (like, do I need to keep the users manual for the computer I bought in 1995?)
And yet, in 12 months, I have only managed to clear off one lousy shelf. One. Out of 21 shelves (yep, I just counted them) all bulging, stuffed to the hilt, sagging under the weight of excess and crying out in desperation. Not to mention the piles of stuff on the floor.
After the ceiling was repaired [for those of you who are new, my office ceiling collapsed this past fall, covering all of my belongings with rubble and plaster dust] I swore I would not just unpack the boxes and put everything back. NO. I am better than that. I was going to carefully go through everything, culling all unnecessary items and emerging with a newer leaner workspace.
Needless to say, the pile of boxes remains. And now, when I need anything, I have to hunt through the boxes, cursing my own name every time. Not a good situation, by any count. Plus I’ve tossed all sorts of things onto the shelves willy nilly when I’ve needed to clean up for the arrival of guests or other such horrifying situations. At least before, I knew where everything was. Now, who knows?
And so, for 2014, I have decided to keep it really simple. This is going to be the year that I take care of unfinished business (which is actually clearing clutter, just by another name) The office is item number one on my list and SO HELP ME GOD I am going to deal with it. There are all sorts of other things, like unread e mails and half finished craft projects, a barely touched Instagram account, a pile of clothes that need mending… all of which stand in the way of the clearer life I am planning to be living by the end of this year.
They say that if you continue to cross these types of tasks off of your to-do list, you will open up all sorts of room for new and exciting things to happen.
Hey, even if I just get this office situation taken care of, I’ll be beyond happy.
Wish me luck.
