SomeFrills

I’m an obsessive documenter, not in the traditional journalistic fashion (as the paltry number of posts present on this blog would attess to) but in a more obscure and bare-bones way: I love planners and to-do lists.

Planners are the only reason I know what I’ve done and what I’m going to do. My enthusiasm for seeing people can sometimes override the practicality of meeting up with five separate people in four different parts of Manhattan on a Thursday afternoon because I’ll be in the city and texted everyone I know there. I have considered the merits of sleeping less (although I love it) because it would free up more time to do things, and there is always food in my car so if I forget to allocate enough time to eating—well, at the very least I won’t pass out behind the wheel.

It’s not that every day is a crazy bustle, it’s just that my schedule is clumpy: some weeks everything is happening and I get to see everyone, whereas others I sit at home and debate picking up another tv show. Planners keep me going through the busy and anticipating during the slow.

And, if it’s slow, there’s always that to-do list of mine. A couple months ago I started keeping a personal rolling to-do list, in mirror of the one I have at work, so that everything I need to do is in one place and each section starts with a date. If I think of it, it goes on the list.

Mostly this list is mundane, but it’s something to keep me going and not panicking because WHAT IF I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING IMPORTANT. Well, not only would have I forgotten to do it, I would have also forgotten that I had to do it. So, ipso facto, it didn’t exist!

Source: Mlkshk.com

Sometimes I use my planner as a to-do list too, making notes to Future Me about deadlines and possible penciled in adventures. So it probably comes as no surprise, especially after my 2011 reflection post, that I LOVE new year’s resolutions. You date them and instill within them a year’s worth of reflection and optimism. At the end of the year, when you look back, they are the clearest signposts on the road, however paved or twisted, that you’ve spent the past year living.

Some of mine have been rolling resolutions of years (read 10 good books; make a thing a week; a piece of fruit a day) with limited success (Goodreads tells me I’ve succeeded; still need to be more consistent; usually pretty good, pomegranates after this post), and others are fresh for this year. I’ve added dates when I can, categorized them by type, am considering deadlines and travel partners, and really looking forward to another year.

This is probably my most ambitious year, resolution-wise, and, undoubtedly, my most neurotic, resolution-wise and not life. I’ve even set an intention (be more thoughtful in word, action, and, um, thoughts), a sign that yoga twice a week will be good for me as well. But, I’m also considering it a master to-do list, a living document of goals and ambitions. I realize that not everything may be accomplished, although non-negotiables will be annotated as such, and new things may be added as opportunities arise.

What matters most is that in 362 days with 52 weekends, I’ll be able to reflect upon 2012 and feel the same sense of accomplishment and optimism that I feel now thinking about 2011. Once again I will have cultivated new things and nurtured those I am blessed enough to have in my life already. Plus, it’s a leap year so there’s extra time!