I like to use January 1st as an easy to remember reminder to do certain things:

1) Change all the smoke alarm batteries in the house, and check the pressure and expiration dates on my cannister fire extinguishers. (Although I've recently been phasing in non-pressurized, non-expiring flare-style Element fire extinguishers as needed, so that last part will eventually become unnecessary.)

2) Change the batteries in my serious-use optics. (Sure, they can typically go several years on one battery, but by swapping them annually you never have to guess if they're getting close to needing changed, or worry about them going dead at an inopportune time.)

3) Make my full Individual Retirement Account contribution for the new year, using the $6k I've saved up for that purpose over the previous year. (Even though I realize it won't go through until the next business day.)


What's on your annual New Years Day to-do list?

Clean off my desk.

1) Make a list.

Set all the calanders ahead a year.

Change December underwear to January underwear.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Change December underwear to January underwear.

I figured you'd just turn them inside out, and roll on for another month.

vthoky hit it on the nail!! My desk is a mess!! Other than that, I want to work on getting out of NY as soon as possible!!

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
1) Make a list.

Make sure you check it twice

I have a running To-Do list I keep in Microsoft OneNote set with reminders.

I have organized my To-Do lists into categories: Cyclical - stuff that I regularly do separated into Daily and Ad Hoc reminders, Weekly, Monthly, and Bimonthly and above. For example, I just downloaded my credit report from one of the three credit bureaus. Every 4 months, I order from one of the three so each bureau gives me a report every year.

On Deck - stuff that I don't do regularly but set to certain milestones associated with personal projects. The latest one that I added was renewing my CCW permit that I just received 90 days before its expiry on Dec 20, 2026.

Dogs - they have their own to-do list and an easy way to look at trends like how often I've had to get their anal glands expressed and upcoming flea medications, vet visits, and license expiration.

Cars - short history of maintenance for trending purposes (I keep a separate permanent history), and when I'm supposed to check tire pressures, jump starter charge, and rotate tires.

Personal - like when did I get my last haircut

Parking Lot - stuff I may do if ever I want to schedule it.

I don't waste my mind trying to store stuff in memory. I try to free up my mind to process stuff as in thinking things through. I can't make or trust any software to do my decision making for me but I can sure make it do my remembering for me. They're very good at that.

Also, a long time practice of mine is every October, I try to review Stephen Covey's First Things First. I don't actually use his planning methodology anymore but the principles still stay the same.

PS: my desk is perpetually messy. But it's an everyday to-do to declutter it.

I like the OP’s first item and think I will copy it. As to lists, my wife usually reminds me of what I need to do!

Annually? Nothing much. I resigned myself many years ago to the fact that New Years resolutions never amount to much. This year is different. Given that:

(1) My company is almost all working from home anyway and we've been told that's not going to be changing, so all I really need is a good internet connection, and

(2) Oregon and Washington are in a mad race to see which can be the first to out-California California,

I decided that I'm going to GTFO of Oregon ASAP, not wait until I retire in 2 or 3 more years. So this year is going to be all about getting the house fixed up to sell, and trimming down my inventory of "stuff". And other assorted nitpicky little things, like deciding where I'm going to go. That will involve a road trip some time this year.

The problem I have with To Do lists is I forget to consult them

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
The problem I have with To Do lists is I forget to consult them

I hear you there. I make shopping lists so I don't forget what to buy at the grocery store. Then when I go shopping, I forget to take the list.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I like to use January 1st as an easy to remember reminder to do certain things:

1) Change all the smoke alarm batteries in the house, and check the pressure and expiration dates on my cannister fire extinguishers. (Although I've recently been phasing in non-pressurized, non-expiring flare-style Element fire extinguishers as needed, so that last part will eventually become unnecessary.)

2) Change the batteries in my serious-use optics. (Sure, they can typically go several years on one battery, but by swapping them annually you never have to guess if they're getting close to needing changed, or worry about them going dead at an inopportune time.)

Don't your smoke alarms start beeping when their batteries are low?

You can get a simple battery-tester or multimeter (HFT used to give them out for free) for a few bucks and test battery voltage instead of replacing them just because. That's the true way of taking out the guess-work.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
Annually? Nothing much. I resigned myself many years ago to the fact that New Years resolutions never amount to much.

Note that I wasn't talking about New Years Resolutions. Rather, an annual preparation and preventative maintenance cycle.

Similar to the monthly tasks that I have, of changing my contact lenses, giving my dog his heartworm meds, and swapping my HVAC filter, all on the first of each month. Makes it easy to remember.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
Don't your smoke alarms start beeping when their batteries are low?

Sure they do.

But who wants to be woken up in the dead of night, and have to go stumbling through the house at zero-dark-thirty to try and figure out which of the little bastards decided to start chirping at the least opportune time.

Been there before. A little preventative maintenance removes that potential headache.