Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

New Year’s Day is the equivalent of an odometer on an automobile. Slowly the last number changes, and occasionally more than the last number, as we track the years and check the tread on our lives. This New Year’s Day falls on Saturday, so the world has two days off before returning to the road.

In past years, I’ve made copious lists of things to do in the upcoming months. The lists are always alphabetical and organized; but, because I rarely look at them once I’ve completed the exercise, they are also pretty useless. The waning weeks of November usually reveal that about half of the items on the lists were accomplished in the course of time while half were not. Having put them on a list in the first place made little difference.

I’ve read that the best way to accomplish the things on a list is to keep them visible. Some time management experts suggest putting them on file cards and studying them daily. Others say the list should be tacked up at eye level as a constant reminder. And I bet there is some management guru out there who advocates memorizing it.

But what I’ve decided to do this year is to forego the exercise altogether and not make a list for 2005. Instead, I’m creating a mantra, one that is brief and doesn’t need explanation. One that is important only to me. One that I plan to make into my monitor’s screen saver. Four words: Write more, drink less!