One of the biggest mistakes is to try to take on the entire task at once. After an initial burst of energy, many people poop out, and never finish the project. Instead, do it in steps. Organize one room at a time, one section at a time. Spread it out over manageable steps, but keep to a set schedule -mark the time off in your calendar.
- Betsy Fein, Clutterbusters!!, www.clutterbusters.com

I noticed today that the coupon section in this weekend’s paper was loaded with ads for fresh-start foods and cleaning supplies and that finding space at the gym was a little more difficult than usual. Everyone is resolving! We all know how easy it is to make a list of the things we want to change about ourselves and our lifestyles and, regrettably, how even easier it is to let every day life and our old routines get the best that list! One of my resolutions is to stick to my resolutions and there’s no better way to be successful than to take baby steps, small bites, one day at a time. Thankfully, I had a warm-up round!

December was a big month for me: I got married and merged households with my husband and his son. Oh, and Christmas! We had boxes everywhere - wedding gifts, moving boxes, and Christmas packages aplenty. (Nothing says trouble like a 5 year old that asks why it’s so messy!) We made a pact to keep our priority list intact and then deal with or change one thing at a time. Much to our surprise, we ended up cruising through it and were a lot more relaxed on the other end of it. Sure, there were times we got distracted by the number of places we needed to be, the number of things we needed to do, and the sheer mass (and mess!) of our collective things, but taking it one step at a time meant we were never too far off track and never too weighed down by all of those projects (or likely to give up). And although we are far from settled, we feel so proud when we look around and see that we’ve made some progress - and isn’t that really what resolutions are all about?

And, for those of you who share my appreciation for the sociological, here’s a mass social behavior fact brought down to our size: drastic or sudden change breeds chaos; slow, deliberate change brings consistency and longevity. If you try to make lots of changes all at once, it’s harder to absorb. Slow, one by one change, means you’ll have more success.