New Year, New Goals ...

This year I am inspired by Flylady's new motto for 2010 --

"The timer is my friend in 2010."

This year, I will be doing many exciting things with my timer to meet my goals. I will use Flylady as a lead resource, but I will have my own goal areas to make headway on.

If I had to sum up my New Year's Resolution this year in one word, it would be:

Fifteen

And that is because, as Flylady says, "you can do anything for 15 minutes!" And this is so true for me. There is nothing like spicing up the drudgery of housework with timer goals at various times throughout the day.

So, I will be using my timer to meet my housework goals, kick procrastination in the rear, and even to do some exercise. This year will be all about bursts of 15 minute energy. I am not even thinking of perfection in any area, just wonderful bursts of positive energy doing various tasks that are on path to my goals. And, in doing this, I will keep things all mixed up and, therefore to me -- Un-boring!

So, the best way for me to utilize this method was to make a list of things I want to accomplish this year. This will enable me to work a little bit on one thing and then zoom, boom, bang -- shift to something else to keep things fun, mixed up and productive.

So, here is my list:

1.) Master my Laundry -- as the Flylady recently said, "A load per day keeps CHAOS away." She is right. I will do ONE load per day and I will not strive for more than that unless I am just in the mood. In the past, I have ALWAYS tried to do more than a load per day and I burn out. (Boredom factor).

2.) Add daily laundry and trash pickups covering the entire house to my daily routine.

3.) Declutter regularly using Flylady Hot Spot emails as a reminder.

4.) Add a Swish and Swipe routine for the bathrooms.

5.) Buy meat on sale but that is already packaged for the freezer. Basically, this means I will spend just a bit more on meat by not buying it in bulk and then packaging it for freezing myself, but I will save a lot on my sanity. By doing this, I feel that I will be able to devote more of myself to actual food preparation (ideally creating better meals that my family will enjoy much more.)

6.) Add some exercise to my daily routine -- 15 minute increments.

7.) Eat breakfast more often.

8.) Keep Ellie home from preschool if I don't like the weather.

9.) Explore options for activities for the girls that benefit all THREE of us!

10.) Save enough money to cash flow a new roof this year.

11.) Continue with our budget and minimizing expenses.

12.) Recreate my bedroom to a room I like a lot more.

13.) Have people over to visit approximately every other month (during the last two weeks of the month.)

14.) Embrace that I like to change things around in my life frequently and do it as much as I want to! This is my gift to myself as I turn 40 this year!