First the Times Square Ball Dropped...

dead lightbulb in the hallway — That dead lightbulb is about 18-20 feet high off the landing. This short-stature body is not getting up there even with our tallest ladder. Hubby job.

I didn’t watch the Times Square ball drop on New Year’s. I imagine it did, or I would have heard otherwise. By week 2 of the year, a colleague wondered whether I dropped for 2024. Wait, what? The year has barely begun. Here’s what happened, or more accurately didn’t.

The Practical Sort went AWOL during GO Month, conspicuously not plugging the marketing hype. Why’s that? Did I miss a golden opportunity? We’ll ease into my unease in a moment.

Rewinding to Day 1, 2024

First let’s check in. What was your entry into 2024 like? I didn’t think I’d make it past midnight ET. Despite endless yawns and droopy eyelids, hubby and I chugged away until 12 AM central time, two time zones away. A case of good enough for sure.

Did you gracefully saunter into the new year? Run full throttle past midnight? Dance and leap from one year into the next? Hide under the bedcovers? No matter. You made it here. So did I. Now, the question is how do we choreograph the next 300+ days? Today, my brain doesn’t possess the artistry to make it passed 5 pm. It’s been a tough tech day (again), not much accomplished aside from customer support emails and chats. Maybe "Mercury in retrograde" communication interference is a “thing”. Now it’s time to get seriously down to business, my business!

Running Headlong Into the To-Do List

Once you crossed the new year threshold, did you smack into your to-do list? My husband and I did. Lots of things broke, on cue, as if a conductor raised the baton. We buckled down and dove in (minimal kicking and screaming). Well, mostly he buckled down. These jobs tapped into his skillsets more than mine (sigh of relief!). If you want proof, see the photo above of the dead lightbulb well beyond my highest ladder-assisted reach.

[Side note: Since I originally wrote this blog, we experienced a 3-day power outage which concluded yesterday. Hubby jumped through extraordinary hoops, performing, in my mind, miracle of miracles, to gauge and operate our solar batteries for optimal output. We had heat and lights when we needed them most until the system went kaput. He spent most of day 3 in the freezing garage and 49 degree house, diligently and astutely getting us back up and running which coincidently was just shy of electric grid restoration to our area. My gratitude was overflowing!]

If you met up with your to-do list with gung-ho smiles, I’m totally envious. Lucky you. You’re a rarity. Mostly what I hear is “BURN IT!” “CHUCK IT OFF A CLIFF,” “SHRED IT!!” You have the authority to do whatever you want with your to-do list, it’s yours. The choice is also yours in how you wish to deal with emotions and responsibilities for things left undone. Don’t judge yourself (advising this concept is helping me learn it too--I've a ways to go). I don’t do well physically or emotionally with tasks weighing me down. Conversely, I revel in satisfaction (more like a delicate high) from crossing “dones” off my list. Feels so good. Know that feeling?

Celebrate Your Memorable Photos

Fast forward, and I mean fast. January is already winding down, and I’ve barely had time to enjoy my calendar photo of the month. Each year, I select from among 1000s of photos from my daily walks to roughly represent a monthly theme. I often forget what’s coming, so each turn of the page is a wonderful surprise. I highly recommend calendars as a way to enjoy your favorite photo memories for approx. 30 days. Sorry, I got off track.

Back to Where I Went Off Track

January happens to be GO Month. What’s GO Month? GO, in this case, stands for “Get Organized”? Sounds like an obvious marketing opportunity. Instead, I was conspicuously AWOL. Where were the Practical Sort’s plugs? No adverts from me for a reason. It’s not that I don’t find merit in the concept of GO Month. I believe that any source of inspiration to get us started and moving forward on whatever it is that we need or wish to accomplish is worth a whirl. My reservations about GO Month are similar to advocating new year’s resolutions. We zealously begin. We’re all in. Excited. Determined. And burnt out or our zeal fades away beyond the first few weeks. Super committers might make it into the early months. In my mind, as an organizer and home keeper, every month is GO Month or in my case UK Month. No, not UK as in United Kingdom, UK as in “upkeep.” Better to pace yourself if possible for longer distances.

Annual dental check-ups and cleanings (at a minimum) are necessary if you want to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Does that mean you’re off the hook for brushing and flossing until next year? While there are no guarantees, regular maintenance assures a better shot at keeping the teeth you want. Do I support the concept of Go Month? I do if you find that useful. Gimmicks or not, whatever inspires and motivates you to start and keep trucking along, I’m onboard.

to do list — Gimmicks or not, whatever inspires and motivates you to start and keep trucking along on your to-dos, I’m onboard. Image by Markus Winkler from Pixabay

Please don’t let me discourage you from getting organized in January. Like oral hygiene, organizing isn’t once and done. A well-organized home runs like a well-oiled engine. Smoother with fewer breakdowns. That engine needs oil refills and tune-ups. My house is kind of like that engine; fairly well organized (note, not perfect). However, it doesn’t get or remain organized on its own. Every grocery trip requires new purchases to be methodically put away that makes retrieval safe, quick, and easy. Who wants a soup cans tumbling on their head, burnt recipes, or delays getting out of the house because you can’t find what you need? If I notice items aren’t suitably located, I move them or rearrange until placement makes more sense to me or other household members.

Here are a few things to try out for more organized, comfortable, efficient surroundings in 2024. Take what makes sense to you, leave the rest, make up your own guidelines, or do nothing.

If you missed GO Month, and need something like that to ignite action, it’s never too late to start. Start now. Start tomorrow. Start next week or next month. Simply start.

Make a commitment to yourself or to someone who can gently keep you on track without judgment or too much pressure. Advise them of the action(s) you wish to take. If you need a commitment reminder, set an alert. Set it now.

Hire a professional organizer or coach (hint, hint) if you’re in over your head. It's ok to admit that we can't or won't do it all like the recent fix-it chores in my house. Some were beyond my skillset or for the time I had available. Please don't feel bad when it makes sense to defer to others for an assist. In fact, attend my Wednesday, Feb 7th ‘Get it Done’--Party with a Purpose online at 10 am (Pacific Time). Together we'll all get down to to-do list business supported by a group of body doubles.

Leave behind the visions of magazine covers or perfectionist tendencies if they hinder moving forward or cause high levels of stress. This is your home and your lifestyle. What do you want it to look like? If you live with others, how can you create surroundings that fit everyone’s comfort levels? There is no rule book or answer guide. I can make recommendations, but this is you and your family. Experiment, play around with different ideas such as each of you having a space to claim as your oasis to keep however you wish, within reason. Negotiate and navigate. Assess what works. Great keep the winners, for now. I say for now, because situations change. We move, our preferences change, our family units change. We change. Toss away or modify the test drives that fell flat.

I’ll have lots more to say as 2024 calendar pages’ flip. For now, that’s probably more than enough to digest.

Enjoy the remainder of GO Month January and the next 11 GO/UK Months to come.