Getting and staying organized are great habits, and they can do a lot to make life easier, less stressful, and more efficient. As with all good habits, though, sometimes the best thing you can do is take a break from them and cut yourself a little slack. And what better time to do just that than mid-summer?

This week, consider devoting the time you might otherwise use for organizing tasks (think sorting mail, attacking piles, categorizing the contents of a closet) to one of the tasks below.

Look through a photo album
When's the last time you actually pulled a photo album off the shelf and sat down to browse through it? For a true kick, grab a friend or close family member and choose an album from way back, then have a laugh at that ill-advised perm you sported many summers ago or the tacky t-shirts your dad used to wear.

Have an impromptu cookout
Though there's something to be said for pre-planned get-togethers with family, friends, and neighbors, there can be just as much joy (and often less stress) in an informal, unplanned meal outside. Fire up the grill, ask everyone to bring something to share (don't worry if themes or cuisines collide--this is one case in which potato salad and Chinese noodles can happily coexist), and simply enjoy the fleeting pleasure of being able to eat outside with people whose company you enjoy.

Find a festival
Regardless of where you live, chances are there's some sort of outdoor activity happening, whether a fair, a festival, an art show, an outdoor play, or an alfresco movie screening. Pick something you've always intended to do or see but never have, and make it a priority to go.

Enjoy a guilty pleasure
For an hour or two, make a vow to yourself that you won't check e-mail, answer the phone, or attack any chores. Instead, revel in whatever pleasure you secretly love but rarely get to enjoy, whether it's reading a trashy novel, watching a so-bad-it's-good movie, or creating (and devouring) a sundae with every sweet thing you can find in the house.

Do nothing at all
Sure, complete and total relaxation is more easily sought after than achieved, and it's rare that any of us truly gets to do nothing at all for a good stretch of time. But even short chunks of your favorite kind of nothingness--snoozing in a hammock, sitting and watching butterflies in your garden, floating in a pool--can be rejuvenating and can keep the rest of the world at bay, at least for a while.

There are fifty-one other weeks in the year in which you can continue to hone your organizational good habits. This week, though, a respite from sorting and filing and weeding is just what the professional ordered.