Step 1, crib from last year’s list, repeat successes with continued appeal, delete anything unappealing & edit things that are appealing but didn’t work.
Step 2, add new brainstorming list.
Step 3. Get it down to 100 so those extra 18 are flexible. (Nope. But I’ve giving myself latitude to change out 18 at will across the year.)
Step 4. Incentivize rollovers more than one year overdue.
New. Rollovers. Insanely overdue rollovers. Repeats. Tally-able. Trackable Routine. Monthly routine. .
New rule: No more than 7 routines (so, trackable in the planner!) I’m changing many of the monthly, etc. ones (things that actually have no reason to be regular) number counts. That way if I want to bang them all out at once, I can, and I don’t add any pressure to my routine load. Hopefully that will help me get better with routines.
- SANITY: Spend more time with other adult humans (Spinsters, dinner with friends, etc.) Started great, but blew it when preschool ended.
- Visit friends in Austin. Did visit Sue on the drive home, but I meant for more than just a day when I wrote this.
- Call or write legislators/agencies monthly on key issues.*
- Keep working at keeping my shit together/improving.
- Respond quickly with emails and thank yous, even if I don’t have time to answer thoroughly and thoughtfully, because a quick answer is better than putting it off until it’s overdue and awkward.
- THE BEST NEST: Paint the pony wall color(s) I love.
- Paint my office
- Install or return shower hoop
- Reverse doorknob and see if that solves Freddy Problem
- Hot tub time machine!
- Devise a very basic Home Routines plan + important seasonal tasks. Keep it super simple.
- Use Home Routines daily
- Get rid of that old Dish receiver and dumb cable outside the Math room
- Remove old, unused cords and cables in basement
- Figure out laundry room.
- Move wardrobe and dresser and inspect floor to be sure there’s no new termite damage. Knock out damaged bits so there’s a clear boundary. Before I got to this, there was a termite swarm! It’s been treated, so I guess that had the same result ultimately.
- Knock out broken glass from gym window
- Divide rug in half for bedside.
- Clean under bed
- Scrub upstairs hall
- Fix stroller tire
- Clean Gertrude house
- Replace broken windows: Gertrude, garage, grade school. One third doesn’t really pass muster.
- Replace gas line to water heater before restoring gas
- Experiment with plaster repair
- Clean ceiling fan
- Cover raggedy spots on pipe covers in basement
- Assemble gas grill
- Add drawers to office or bedroom cabinets
- Soak the cat fountain in vinegar to delime
- Scrape the old tape gunk off the lobby glass
- A FRIEND IN TECHNOLOGY: Figure how to get off Facebook personally but leave business page, or get off altogether if that’s impossible
- Fix naughtyneedlesknitting.com issue or kill site.
- Move Flickr photos to Amazon, then delete Flickr pro before renewal (March). Didn’t move the photos to Amazon, but I’m conflicted about that anywya. I did get rid of the pro account and download all the photos, so I’m giving myself credit.
- Set up Amazon photo backup for devices. Like I said, conflicted.
- Back up everything, then set up Daddy’s old phone
- MAKE: Make one wine kit by March; if not, give it away.
- Make one beer kit by March; if not, give it away.
- Gather all old WIP. Dispatch albatrosses and finish stuff I still like.
- Mend 20 things. 1. Ron’s jacket. 2-8 sheets
- Make a list of new recipes/techniques I would like to try and post it on fridge
- Actually try 10 of them.
- Keep a list of favorite dishes on fridge so I remember to make them
- Craftsy bread class.
- Choose and make 10 things I’ve pinned.
- Finish Planned Parenthood mitten pattern.
- Build Georgie’s new dog house
- Reinforce and insulate it
- Watch free videos and save recipes from Cook’s Illustrated newsletter
- Make weighted hand pillows
- Make a milk jug skeleton
- HEALTH & LOVELINESS:Run or full yoga 3x/week
- Increase step goals by 500 steps after each successful month.
- General husk maintenance/improvement (use beauty sub samples!).
- Breast self-exams
- 2 dental cleanings.
- 30-day arm challenge.
- Zyrtek at bedtime without fail 2 solid weeks to see if it improves general snot levels
- Weight Watchers goal.
- THRIFTY JOY:2017 postmortem and 2018 financial goals
- Weekly menu plan, fridge clean & Doomsday Pantry.
- Reduce debt by 10%. If successful, some end-of-year goodie TBD.
- Ebay or craigslist something each week and put it towards credit card debt
- eBay sub box surplus
- No non-emergency personal credit card spending. When spending on Amazon or Costco, pay sum back to card with any purchases.
- Put cash in my self-control jar and record success when I resist unnecessary/impulse spending.
- Contract pantry to clear guest, catering fridges and all but top shelf of gray hanging file.
- Contract freezer to deep freezes only, plus sheet shelf clear in pantry freezer.
- Only buy fresh produce and milk in January. Everything else from pantry/freezer.
- Only buy fresh produce and milk thru August. Everything else from pantry/freezer.
- Review personal & shop financials with Ron each month
- MODEST WORK AMBITIONS: Make new stuff to sell out of existing materials.
- Add new products to COGs spreadsheet. Started strong, but fell behind in the fall.
- Income tax on time.
- Quarterly sales taxes on time.
- 1099s on time.
- Card enough batts to fill batt case
- 2019 Woolfest: Plan out Woolfest batt demos; spin samples.
- Improve booth plan for Woolfest–mount signs to grids and try to set up panels without legs.
- Reassemble retail displays before the end of the month and make desired changes to make next year easier.
- Stop dying Woolfest fiber January 10th! No last-minute dying, dummy! Note for next year: stop the Saturday before.
- Move type cabinet to basement. Clean cabinet, clean and organize type.
- Clean old, dirty type.
- POT LUCK:First of the month clearing.
- Get a Lawrence Library card.
- Cut down all the fallen trees or hire someone to do it
- Ditto fixing the fence where they fell on it
- Sort out fence path situation with neighbors. It actually sorted itself out, but I’m taking credit anyway.
- Be a good executor. Not amazing, but I did my best.
- Make an emergency kit, including 3 days of water.
- Rosetta Stone Spanish 1ce/week. Gift for successful completion.
- Desert road trip to pick up line-o-scribe
- Talk to vet about something for Honeybunch’s arthritis.
- MOTHER OF THE YEAR:Transcribe all the weird things Twyla’s said from our texts to a notebook, and record new weird stuff
- Make that yardstick marker thingy for Twyla
- Spend time outdoors on nice days
- Make Year 2 book. Gift for successful completion.
- Make Year 3 book. Gift for successful completion.
- Work through reading book with Twyla (3 days a week).
- Frame Santa pics and buy matching frames for the next several years. Technically, I did this. But I gave it to my mom. I still need to make one for me!
- Frame school pictures and buy matching frames, or find one of those all-in-one frames that’s not obnoxious. Technically, I did this. But I gave it to my mom. I still need to make one for me!
- Twyla guitar lessons, at a time that doesn’t require a separate trip.
- Finish Twyla’s bed.
- Finish Twyla’s room.
- Monthly slow dinner together at a table, with table-setting and conversation and a proper dessert and no screens(lowered expectations to monthly)Reward: earn a restaurant dinner or movies for each family dinner. Got good at this, but then fell out again by the end-of-year chaos. But I established it well enough to resume. I resigned myself to doing it with just me & Twyla, since I got sick of feeling like a stick-in-the-mud about it (and/or not enjoying it with him, since he was resistant and I’m sensitive), and I was mostly wanting to do it to model good behavior and dinner conversation with her. It’s a nice way to slow down and reconnect with T each day.
- Maintain Twyla dental routine.
- Invent effective Twyla toy pickup routine.
- Make and use kid book from planner file.
- Assemble sand box
- LESS: 2:1 Vine, same day
- Finally dispatch unwanted gear with Purple Wave this year. Reward: new range, the kind with a motherfucking salamander, y’all!
- Clear excess junk from hallways and move shop to hall
- Relocate school desks from hall to rooms
- Open up bottom bleacher
- 40 Bags in 40 Days.
- Pick an area of focus for each month and concentrate on culling crap and cleaning for just an hour a week in said zone.
- OVERWHELMING REPAIRS: Grade school roof
- Master improvement plan for next 10 years