Resolutions | the pixel boutique | blog, web & print design

I totally love making New Year’s resolutions…whether in my head or out loud, tormenting my family to go through the tradition of listing them with me. I know Im not going to accomplish half of them, but for me its sort of like making a to do list…it inspires me to give it a go. And if I’m lucky, the momentum of doing something new (and usually health/fitness related) carries me through (for a few months, at least).

This year the holidays were pretty hectic and didn’t have a single minute to “go there” in my brain. When I started to think about it today I realized that 2011 was a pretty good year and there are more things I’d like to continue doing than new things I’d like to start doing.

So here goes…my 7 New Year’s Continuations

1. Keep Becoming More of An Early Bird (as opposed to a Night Owl): More on this later, but I just do better when I am asleep at a decent hour every night.

2. Keep In Step: With regular walks. I love walking. I think I’ve tried every physical excercise routine under the sun, from running to P90X to yoga. And though variety is good, I love daily getting outside and just walking. I’m blessed with a great 1 mile loop right outside my door that I want to continue taking advantage of.

3. Keep Turning It Off: This is so hard for me, but I find when I turn my computer off from 2:30 to 6:00, the whole atmosphere in my house changes. Kids start coming home from the bus stop at 2:30 and there’s much to do…after school snacks and debriefing, homework, help with chores, making-eating-cleaning up dinner, etc. When I have the distraction of “just one more email” or “let me just finish this code”…it steals my attention from what really matters. Being disciplined to get my work done on time is worth the effort and one I want to strive to continue doing.

4. Keep Managing My Time, Rather Than The Other Way Around: I’m rather organized. If you ask me right now where the Scotch tape was, I’d tell you it was sure to be in the top left drawer of my cubical shelves in my office. My plastic containers are (usually) nested with the lids next to them. My clothes are arranged by color in my closet. Weird, I know. But, I have a real tendency to not be so organized with my time. I dont know if its motherhood or personality, but I find that more often than not, my time manages me rather than the other way around. Its a struggle, but I have found techniques like realistic daily to do lists, “grouping” (where you do similar tasks all at once…like writing blog posts, running errands, etc.) and knowing when to say “no”. My goal this year is to keep working hard at it until it becomes more natural…and if I find more tricks along the way I’ll be sure to share!

5. Keep Reading: I am a horrible reader and I’ve never been good at it…not that I can’t read, but I just dont enjoy it very much. But I love listening to books. Go ahead…call me old. But really, I’ve been loving my local library’s (Pima County Public Library) digital bookshelf. I can search, check out and download books for free and then listen on my iPhone or iPod. I’ve got plenty of time as Im walking or driving, since we live a million miles from everywhere. Its a great practice I plan to continue.

6. Keep Growing…Without Loosing Balance: I love stretching myself and trying new things. There are so many things I want to do and try, but have too many times gotten myself in over my head. I believe there’s a balance to be found between “doing” and “doing to much”. This year I want to keep finding that balance.

7. Just Keep Blogging: The term “The shoemaker’s children have no shoes” rings loudly in my ears when I look back and see huge (well…its all relative I guess…) lapses of time between posts. Truth is, helping people reach their bloggy hopes and dreams seems to regularly take precedence over my own little blog here. This year I want to keep working hard at doing what I love. I know it takes planning, creativity, a note pad to jot down ideas that pop in my head in the middle of the night. I’ve got lots of fun ideas and actually have posts scheduled through February (taking a few weeks off work will do that to a girl). And I’m sure attending Blissdom ’12 is going to spark more blog posty enthusiasm, so stay tuned (but forgive me if I fall of the band wagon every now and then ).

Your Turn: What are YOUR New Year’s resolutions/continuations?

“Fall down seven times…get up eight”

Do you make New Year resolutions?

Yes, always!

Sometimes

Only if someone like you forces me to come up with something

Never

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Ask anyone in my family, including my extended family. Every New Year’s Eve, I make everyone go around the table after dinner and state their New Year’s resolutions. And if they don’t have any, I make some up for them.

Maybe I’m weird. But I’m a sucker for fresh starts. Newness. A clean slate. A restart.

I make resolutions every year. And I break them every year (usually around February). But that doesn’t deter me from making them again the next year. Not a bit. I’d rather start something and not fully accomplish it than to not start anything at all.

So for 2010, I have come up with “My 10″…a list of some serious, some practical, some ridiculous things that I want to accomplish. And maybe, just maybe, I can come back at the end of the year and report completion and accomplishment. And if I don’t? At least I got to try 10 new things.

1. Project 365. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time…to take a picture of something representative of my life every day. At the end of the year, what a story it will tell! (Check out Project 365 for more info and tips).

2. Be more organized. This is a repeat offender. Typically, I’m a very organized, neatnik person. But three kids, one hubby and a dog…and all that they entail…overwhelm me sometimes. This year, I am going to use more tools like:

Post-It Labels – they’ve got some really cool new products
My bank’s online banking tools…to avoid being so “surprised” at the end of the month
Good ol’ delegation…and a chore chart

3. Get a Roomba. My home is 85% tile and it takes forever to clean. In line with #2, I want to make better use of my time by cleaning less. Ok, not less, just smarter. I’ve heard rave reviews about the Roomba…have you?

4. Be a better friend. By calling a friend when she is on my mind, inviting her over for coffee, going for a walk or meeting her for lunch. A simple gesture goes a long way…for both of us.

5. Run 3 5k races. I’ve done one a year for the past two years. Time to step it up.

6. Read with my kids every school night. I read to my kids when they were little. But now that they’re older, I see the benefit in reading with and to them…still. It is a whole-family activity that I want to continue through the next year. Right now we’re reading The Last Olympian.

7. Stop the late night snacking. I’m a natural-born night owl and I like to stay up and work or watch TV after the house is quiet. A quiet house + TV = Eating (and not healthy stuff like spinach and tofu). I need to break this bad habit.

8. Be “Early to bed, early to rise…” To help with #7, among other things.

9. Try “Once a Month” Cooking. I think I would dig this. I like doing things “in bulk”. Any cookbook recommendations?

10. Take my boys to Disneyland! Yes, that’s right. We have yet to take our boys (8, 10 & 13) to the happiest place on earth (does that make us totally unAmerican, or what?). Hopefully, 2010 will be our year!

No matter what resolutions you make or break, here’s hoping your 2010 is prosperous, healthy and happy!