The Jakarta Post - Weekender

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to think about what we really want in life. Take a deep breath and step back before the clock chimes midnight: how do you want to spend the next year?

Take a pen and scribble down three things most important to you. This can include things like spending more time with your loved ones, writing a novel, getting fit, having more time to relax or saving for a house — anything, really, that you feel is important.

Consider your life as it is now. How much time, money and energy do you actually spend on those priorities? Chances are, unless you’re better balanced than most of us, a lot of your time and energy is spent on activities that detract from these goals.

Imagine if you could find an extra 30 minutes every day to devote to those three things. It doesn’t sounds like much but when you add it up, 30 minutes a day equals three-and-half hours a week, 15 hours per month and seven and a half days out of an entire year. Pretty impressive the way the numbers add up! That’s a week’s worth of quality time with your kids. An extra week to spend as you please.

But where am I going to find that time, you cry? My schedule is already completely full with errands and obligations, not to mention work. Clearly, that time has to come from somewhere.

One quick way to find some more time is getting organized. If you’re like me, that suggestion elicits gloom on par with the thought of an upcoming dentist’s visit. I muddled on for years without creating an organizational system, with the excuse that I am a “creatively chaotic” type. A part of me was literally terrified that getting organized would dampen the spontaneity and imagination crucial to my work.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. When I finally buckled down to it, getting organized freed up a lot more time for me to get my work done. I could focus on being creative without worrying that I’d misplaced my notes somewhere, or wasting time looking for a pen that worked.

If you find the idea of an organizational system intimidating, bear in mind that there is no perfect system. Whatever works for you, works. Second, a flawed system will be a better help than no organizing system at all.

In practice, all of us have organizing systems in place: our habits. The habits we have, be it as simple as placing your toothbrush in its cupholder, provide a routine around which we can navigate. The trick is to change those habits so that they reflect what we really want to get done.

Little things help: if you spend time looking for contact info, get into the habit of jotting down phone numbers in the same place. If the old fax keeps conking out on you and you can afford to, why not replace it, and give away the old machine to someone who can use it — you’ll save time and aggravation.

Another tip is think about what activities you could drop or delegate to others. Very few of the things we do are actually crucial to our lives. Think back to those three priorities you identified earlier. How much time can you afford to spend on them now? How much time do you want to spend with them? Now what are you willing to give up to bridge that gap?

Which brings up another way of creating more space: giving away your uneccessary belongings. Look through those clothes, baby strollers, spare tools and extra chairs gathering mold. Donating enriches someone else and lessens the amount of things you have to take care of. It’s a humbling, rewarding experience to pick up something you own and decide, “I already have everything I need, let me give this away to help someone else”.

What better way to ring in the new year than by recognizing the essential richness of your own life, but with a little less clutter in it.

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