Beyond the Resolutions!

Every January, we are given a fresh slate to reorganize our daily lives and attitudes to coincide with our goals. By defining benchmarks for scheduling decisions, you can take the pressure out of getting organized and put the pleasure into enjoying family life 365 days ahead.

Here are four easy tips to implement this month:

• Back to Basics - Take a look at your current calendar and evaluate its effectiveness. Make certain it can incorporate schedule information for all family members and is portable, allowing you to take it with you everywhere. Families need a master calendar that is maintained by one person on a regular basis. Consider using a wall calendar at home in a highly visible location that is complimented by your own portable version for maximum success in educating everyone about the order of the day.

• Map with Meaning - Sit down with your partner and decide what principles will guide your decisions this year as you commit time. Consider defining your time by family, fun, friendship, finance, and faith. Each time commitment, no matter if for work or play, impacts Mom's life and the lives of her family members. This means you have a multitude of daily opportunities to follow a roadmap that matches your defining principles. When met with a schedule option, run it through the funnel and match it up before it makes the map. You'll find a greater sense of balance all around, all year long.

• Lists that Linger - This year, don't follow the crowd and sign up for the resolutions most often chosen. Instead, on one poster board, make columns with these headings: Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, and Friend. For each heading, make no more than three resolutions regarding your role in this column. If you like, go all out and make it a decorative project you will enjoy viewing daily, because that is your next step. Mount this in a highly visible place you know you will see. By viewing it daily, you will choose daily to remain in sync with your GO MOM! Resolutions all year long.

• Organize Often - Start today making the choice to live a well organized year. Why? Because when you take time to organize behind the scenes, you free yourself to live in the moment. Make weekly organizing a priority to stay ahead of the game. From meal planning to seasonal cleaning, managing your personal finance to planning your summer garden, each activity requires advance planning. Block an organizing window on your personal calendar weekly. Use this time to plan, research, outline logistics, and execute tasks that fall in this category. Use seasonal to-do lists to inspire your goals. Do not use this as a replacement for the usual duties of paying bills, filing papers, etc. You'll be amazed at how smoothly your year unfolds when the big projects come your way.

GO MOM!^® INC Founder, Molly Gold, is a 42-year-old mother of three and the creator of The GO MOM!^® product line. Gold is known for her keen insights into Family Scheduling and has been featured both in print and on air media alike. She is a Family Balance Contributor and Blogger at www.PreciousMoms.com as well as Family Scheduling Expert at www.BlueSuitMom.com. She was a featured Family Time Management Expert for Time Makeover on Fine Living Network and served as the 2007 Home Management Expert on Kenmore.com. Gold's work has most recently been featured in print in Pregnancy & Newborn, Pregnancy, Family Circle, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Cooking Light, Parents, Women's Health, and Family Fun Magazines, on air with NBC's Today Show Weekend Edition, and as a contributing author in "The Experts Guide to the Baby Years," Ettus.