December 29, 2007

Why We Clean For the New Year

When I was working at the Molokai Public Library, one of our staff insisted the library be cleaned from ceiling to floor before we closed on the last day of the old year. While the library certainly needed cleaning, getting it all done before closing was stressful, especially when jobs didn't meet her standard and had to be done over. (Here's a story about some New Year's traditions; here's one about Chinese traditions.)

I find myself doing the same thing with my desk around this time every year. Papers stacked up to be handled "later," jobs without a fixed deadline, e-mails in the "pending" folder, journals with articles marked for reading - all get re-prioritized in those last few hours before the old year ends, and either done, read, filed, or trashed. This year is no different. But it won't be finished before December 31, because today is the last day of my work week, and I'll be on vacation for the entire first week of January. But if I get around to it later, here are some techniques I might find helpful.

Still a day late and a dollar short. Happy New Year!

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