Allie Pleiter on Lists

January is a list month.  There are “Best of” lists, resolution lists and lists of things we want to accomplish in the new year.  If you’re like me, you make a list of what you want to get accomplished every day.  I admit, I’m a compulsive list-maker. I find that lists keep me calm and focused, especially when I’m stressed.

Today I’ll share my favorite strategy for moving a list on paper to action in the real world:

NUMBER YOUR LIST

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Most of life’s more powerful truths are simple, I’ve found.  Ordering your tasks—or your priorities or whatever comprises your list—does two important things:

it forces you to think about what’s most important, most urgent, or must come first to make other items on your list possible

It frees up your attention to focus on one thing at a time and then smoothly transfers your attention to the next thing when the first is accomplished

Did you see that?  I made a little list, right there in front of you.  It’s that simple.  So the next time you have a whopping work load staring you down—and who doesn’t these days???—take a moment to write down your tasks and order them in a numbered list.  This simple process can yield big results in your peace and productivity.  And that’s a great way to start a year, don’t you think?

What about you?  Do you make lists?  Do you number them?  Share your experiences.

Happy 2012 by Marta Perry

So here we are, eleven days into 2012. Have you broken your New Year's Resolutions yet?

I'll tell you a secret: I've decided that making resolutions on January 1st is a really bad idea. Think about it--you're already tired out from lack of sleep during the holiday season, you've been eating too much, your brain and your body are both protesting at the idea of just getting out of bed. So why do we decide we're going to turn over a new leaf on the 1st of the year? Whether it's giving up a bad habit or starting a good one, I think my chances of keeping a resolution are much better on any other day of the year!

Maybe this year I'll try making a fresh start on January 11th instead of January
1st. I hereby resolve that I'll smile more often, tell people I love them more often, and appreciate the magnificent gifts God has given all of us each day.

So happy January 11th to you. I wish you joy and peace throughout this new year.

Blessings,
Marta Perry

New Years Resolutions

Camy here! What are your New Years resolutions?

I was talking to a friend who said that it’s better to have only one resolution. Apparently, having too many makes our minds unfocused and we end up not keeping any of them, but if we have only one, we can focus and are more likely to keep it. That makes sense to me.

I want to go one step further and make my resolution specific and concrete. All the articles on weight loss I’ve read say to make your goals very specific and doable, and then you’ll be more likely to keep them. So I’m going to apply this to my New Years resolution:

30 minutes of exercise every day. It doesn’t have be strenuous—it’s most likely to be a walk with the dog in the afternoon—but I have to do it. I can also break it up into 15 and 15 minutes twice a day if need be.

What’s your New Years resolution?

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her novels Single Sashimi and Deadly Intent are out now. She runs the Story Sensei critique service, is a staff worker for her church youth group, and leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels and ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for giveaways!