New Year’s Resolutions Clichés

It’s that time of year again: time to make your New Year’s Resolutions. We always start the new year with good intentions. Then it’s all downhill from there. Just kidding…kind of…hopefully not… There are some resolution clichés that always appear on people’s lists. And they are definitely on mine. Some of these are:

• be better organized
• workout
• eat healthier
• be more creative/productive

Better organization

I feel like I get a bit scattered sometimes. I make a lot of to do lists and they end up lost somewhere in my room on various scraps of paper. I started bullet journaling to counter this disorganization. The bullet journal is a rapid logging method created by Ryder Carroll, an Art Director in New York. To me it’s like a do list on steroids. I have all my lists in one notebook and it’s indexed so I can reference them when needed. I also started using Wunderlist as the digital part of my organization system. I can set due dates and get an alarm synced with my computer and phone.

The plan is to continue using the bullet journal and Wunderlist into 2015. Another key to being organized (with my tasks and also all of the physical items in my life) is to review and purge — look at everything critically and get rid of anything I don’t actually need. I recently went through all the papers I had. I still had receipts dating from 2008 for furniture I haven’t owned since 2010. It’s definitely a good idea to go through your possessions and declutter.

Workout and eat healthier

Okay…this has been one of my resolutions for years and I still haven’t done it. However! I now have some tools that might give me a better start. I downloaded the 7 Minute Workout app on my phone. It doesn’t require any special equipment and, like the name says, it doesn’t take a lot of time. Those facts alone make working out less intimidating. I’d never want to go to the gym on a regular basis.

Eating healthier in 2015 is all about cutting out or limiting certain things (sugar, bread, fast food) and adding other things (fruits and veggies). I already drink water everyday (unless there’s orange juice or ginger ale in the house…). My bullet journal will hopefully make both of these goals easier to accomplish. It’s something I look at everyday so I’ll be able to track my progress and see when I’m slacking.

Creativity and productivity

Again, the bullet journal should help with this goal as far as time and project management. (I’ll write more about my bullet journal in a separate post.) I have a page full of art project ideas. I just need to work my way through them. I want to start and finish two works per month. I’ll keep you posted about them here on the blog.

My New Years’s Resolutions aren’t groundbreaking. I’m sure millions of people have similar goals. Hopefully I’ll stick to them in 2015. We’ll see how that goes.

Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions in 2015.