Beyond New Year's Resolutions: How to Manage Your 'Someday/Maybe' Projects

Many of us have started the year with a set of goals. Some of these may be new and others may be revised or carried over from last year. You may have written them down (always a good thing), broken them into categories such as professional and personal, and listed specific, measurable steps on how to reach each goal.

Let’s assume that you have done this – or will soon – and skip ahead. ?Often, however, there are projects that don’t neatly fit into the goals you’ve deemed important for this year. At some point in the future, you would like to accomplish them. Below are some thoughts on how to clarify and handle projects that you want to complete someday…maybe.

Tips to create a Someday/Maybe List

The most important tip for a Someday/Maybe List is to have it recorded somewhere outside of your brain. If these projects are not written down, then they will take up space in your head and get in the way of more pressing issues.? Or, you will forget about them completely.

Try the tips below for your Someday/Maybe projects:

• List the activities on paper or electronically with a brief description of each.
• If feasible, store the list in close proximity to your regularly-checked To-Do list so that you are less likely to forget about it.
• Review the Someday/Maybe List on a monthly basis. Schedule an appointment on your calendar.? That way the projects will remain relevant.
• Approach your list with an open mind. At some point, an activity in the Someday/Maybe List may support one of your goals.
• Be realistic with the items on your Someday/Maybe List. If they have languished there for a long time, they may need to be deleted.

Where do these Someday/Maybe ideas come from?

• You are in the middle of an important project and other ideas for improvement arise. You don’t want to stall the current project, so write the ideas down on your Someday/Maybe List.
• You read an article that gave you a great idea. The article is at the bottom of a pile of paper on your desk. File/scan the article and note the idea on your list.
• You attend a class and the instructor brings up an idea that appeals to you but you can’t get to it yet. That’s okay. Write the idea down immediately and then transfer it to the Someday/Maybe List.
• Out of the blue, an idea pops into your head. Send yourself a voice memo, text, or email, and when you return to your desk, add it to the Someday/Maybe List.

Imagine how great it will feel to capture ideas that come from all directions and keep tabs on them for future use. When you’re ready, the ideas are there – waiting for you or your team to act on them. ?