New Year’s Resolutions
I no longer make generic new year’s resolutions (how many times can I promise myself to eat better, exercise more, buy fewer shoes, etc.?) Instead, I try to achieve the goals I carry around in my head by being specific and intentional.
So this year, I’m planning to declutter and organize my life and get rid of all the stuff that’s weighing me down. It’s something I’ve been dreading for years, especially going through the boxes in the garage. But I’m not going to do it all at once. That’s a recipe for failure.
I’m going to make a plan and do it step by step. So it doesn’t become overwhelming. And I’m going share the process. Hopefully it’ll give you some ideas for your own journey.
Plan of Attack
What?
These are all the items I need to sort through, purge (donate, sell or shred), organize, digitize…
- Files (tax returns, medical records, reports and presentations from each stage of my career)
- Important documents
- Photos (albums, negatives, slides from my childhood)
- Journals
- Mementos (the ones sitting in boxes in the garage)
- Books (from different chapters of my life – travel, beer, filmmaking, writing, technology, self help, business etc.)
- VHS tapes, DVDs, CDs of my past (speeches, ads, lectures, presentations)
- Clippings: magazine/newspaper articles by topic
- Art/collections – catalogue using photos/certificates/artist details
- Clothes/shoes/purses
- Tech devices
- Misc. crap collected over a lifetime
Papers to sort through, organize and digitize.
Files and important documents to archive.
My many books from different chapters in my life.
Boxes in the garage to go through.
Objects and mementos in my house to catalogue.
And then of course there are all the files (documents, photos, images) on my computers (PC and Mac) that make no sense because I’ve always thought that I’d get around to organizing them someday.
How?
I’ll be trying out scanners for documents, slides, tapes, and external services to help with organizing, shredding, scanning (big volume), video transfer etc. This process will take a village and I want to experiment with multiple options.
And once I’ve completed each phase ‘ll post the items to my StashWall so I know where they are when I need them.
When?
One day at a time. One project at a time. Start date is end of January. I’m going to formulate the actual plan over the next week.
Stay tuned…
