Tag: 2012

Housekeeping: Office Drawer – Check!

Tina Leave a comment

Also known as: Like I said, this is a reason to blog. Clean up, part 1!

One of the things I keep on having to remind myself is this: things get done when you just do it. It’s very simple, but it’s always been the thing that goes away when I procrastinate over some things. Another thing I realized is the things I often procrastinate on doing usually don’t take too much time to do once I start doing it. You know how we put off some things for later because we feel like it would take ages to finish, but when you sit down and do it, it takes only a few minutes of your time? That. I am constantly realizing that, too.

The point is: I’ve decided to get moving on some of the things I listed down in my Housekeeping post. I managed to clean most of it in record time, and I am proud of myself. :D So part one of Clean! All! Things! to-do list is:

Organize my office cabinet. Or mobile pedestal, as we call it. Right now, I could fool myself into thinking that I have a nice, clean office cabinet since we got issued new ones after our nth move to another building in the last how many years. It barely contains anything — just some snacks, a notebook and my laptop when I go home after work — and I could think of so many ways to organize the things I can put in there…but alas. I can’t do that. Because I have an entire lateral cabinet-full of things that I have accumulated in the past four years I am in this company. And I need to clean that. Soon. Really soon.

A few days ago, I arrived at work with a note posted on my sort-of empty cabinet, about cataloging all the drawers and removing the ones that were unclaimed. I didn’t know if they also meant cleaning out the other lateral cabinets, but I thought it was…so I figured maybe I should stuff my things in there already and work on clearing it all out later on. Just to make sure my junk stuff are safe, you know?

So I got my things and I was surprised that it wasn’t really that bad. Okay, fine, I left some things at the lateral cabinet, things that I know I won’t be using anymore. The rest of the things, I was meaning to stuff in my drawer until I decided: What the heck. Let’s organize all these.

I ended up throwing some things, of course. The rest I managed to put in my cabinet and still have some leftover space. I know, I can hardly believe it either. Unfortunately, I don’t have before photos, but I have after!

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One Little Word (and then some)

Tina 3 Comments

Also known as: On having a word for the year

I’ve been stalking some LJs and online places of old friends lately and I’ve been quite inspired by some of them who were brimming with positivity and amazingness ((This isn’t a real word, but hey, I can use it)) with everything that they did in the past year and all in this year. You know those people? Who just seem to be bright rays of sunshine, so inspiring that you also kind of want to be like them? Yeah, I’ve been reading their blogs for the past hour or so.

So I’m trying to figure out what makes them just that: amazing. Not that I don’t think I’m anything less, but when you’re flailing on and off thinking about what you want to do in your life and feeling like time is running out when you’re not doing anything, my inherent amazingness is easy to forget. I want to have the same thing they have, but not exactly the same. I want something of my own, something to make me look back in this year and the next and the next and be proud of what I see. You know?

Other than having goals, five year plans and vision boards, here was one thing I thought was pretty simple: a word. I’ve read how some of them choose a single word to define their year and by using it, reminding themselves of it and just repeating it everyday, the days, months and years became exactly that word.

I could do that. I like words. I can use a word to describe what I want 2012 to be. Right?

I remember doing something like that sometime in the past — 2004 I think? I remember saying something like, “This year will be AWESOME!” and it turned out to be just that. There was 2007 with GREAT ADVENTURE (that’s two words, but that worked). Oh, and there was 2008 too: my word was EXTRAORDINARY. It did turn out to be a pretty extraordinary year for me.

Extraordinary
Extraordinary 2008

So yes, I could start with that.

Now, I know I said something about initiate and follow through, but I’m honestly not sure if those words capture exactly what I want for my year to be. I mean, yes, I need to initiate and follow through, and those are things I need to do. But as for what I want to be? And what I want?

Hmm.

So, so, so. Here’s the plan and I’m giving myself until my 26th birthday to do all of these (I love that my birthday happens early in the year — it’s like another new year). I’m posting it here for accountability, but I’m also writing it down in my planner and somewhere else visible so I won’t procrastinate on this. Here’s what I need to do:

  • Choose my word for the year.
  • Come up with a five year plan using this method
  • Make my vision board

I think maybe one of the reasons I feel like I’m running in circles is because I lack focus and I tend to just wing everything because I’m lazy. There is nothing wrong with winging it sometimes, but thinking about that just makes me panic. No more just going with the flow — I need to step up a little.

So. A word. I found this today, too (credit for my post title), and I wonder if it’s worth it to invest in this class? I could use all the encouragement I can get. I like what she says here too:

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. From my own personal experience, it can be a catalyst for enriching your life.

Thinking about it now, I actually have several ideas, but I may need to figure it out first. How about you, though? (You, the few people who actually read this blog.) Have you ever had a word for your year? What were they? Do you have a word for 2012, too?