Peace of Mind Organizing

Closing out 2008

29 December 2008

As I posted a week ago, I love the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Traditionally, it’s the week that I get my ducks in a row, plan for the coming year and basically get my act together.

This year, I took December 26 off for a glorious four-day weekend. I relaxed, watched a lot of movies, and did a whole lot of knitting. We had some friends over for dinner on the 27th, so I even cleaned house.

So here it is December 29 and I haven’t started enjoying getting my act together. When I sat down at my desk this morning, eager to get to work after all those days off, I thought about the value of closure (something I explored at Jen Hofmann’s Holiday Spa Day) and how this was the week to close out 2008, so I can start 2009 fresh and without baggage.

I made a list of things to do this week (really this half-week) to gain closure on the year. They include:

• Finish entering my business financial data into Quickbooks (and a couple other financial tasks);

• Reorganize my bookmarks in Safari;

• Finish sending out New Year’s cards;

• Go through some three-ring binders that have been hanging out on my shelf untouched for over three years; and

• Relist some books on Craigslist that haven’t sold.

That’s it. That blows me away.

Usually during this special week, I’m digging out. I’m clearing my desk, filing piles of paper, cleaning out files, emptying my in basket. I’m not doing any of that this year. Why? Because I don’t need to!

This has been my year of having a clear desktop daily, and I’m reaping the benefits. It’s also been a year of focus and actually doing things on my to-do list. As a result, I’ve actually kept on top of things. I’m caught up with filing. My in basket is empty.

At last, the organizer is acting like an organizer!

There’s plenty for me to do to prepare for next year, so I’m not taking the week off. But I think after today I’ll have closed out the old year and the rest of the week, I’ll be ringing in the new. My reward to myself is to take January 2 off.

How about you? Are there any tasks you can do this week to give you closure on 2008?

Tagged with: goals, holidays, jennifer hofmann, motivation, planning, spa day

Comments