The new year brings with it the chance to set new goals, aim for new achievements, and, in many ways, wipe clean the slate of the past year and start again. January is a great time to set some organizing goals and resolutions for the months ahead. This year, set yourself up for success by making those resolutions realistic and achievable. Here's how.

Think about what motivates you
Like any positive change, getting (and staying) organized takes time, effort, and commitment. Some parts of the process can be quick and simple, but others can be challenging--and sometimes downright boring. To get yourself on the right track and keep yourself going when things get tough, think about what's motivating you to get organized in the first place.

In my experience, folks who strive for organization only for the sake of being organized find the process much harder (and are less likely to stick with it) than those who want to get organized because they believe it will make their lives less stressful, allow them to open up their homes to friends and neighbors, put them back in control at work, or remove the physical and mental obstacles that are standing in the way of living the lives they truly want to live.

When you figure out what's motivating you, write it down and refer back to it throughout the organizing process whenever you need a jolt of inspiration.

Be realistic
Goals that are within the realm of achievability--even if they're "stretch" or "reach" goals--are far easier to stick with than those that require radical life changes. If you were aiming to reach a healthy weight, for example, you'd probably be much more successful if your goal were to lose a few pounds a month (and keep them off) than if you tried to drop 20 pounds or more in one fell swoop by depriving yourself, under-eating, and over-exercising.

The same holds for organization. If it feels like your whole house is in need of an overhaul, it's more effective to focus your time and effort on getting one room at a time in order than to try to blitz the whole house into shape over the course of a week.

Focus on steps and habits, not just on results
Finally, as you both set your goals and start to work toward them, be sure to focus as much on the steps and habits required to achieve results as you do on the results themselves. For example, one of my goals this year is to be better about being on time: no more mad dashes to get where I need to be, no more calling friends to say I'm running late, no more stressful glances at my watch. To reach my goal, I'll need to become more aware of why I'm late in the first place, plan my days more effectively, and pay more attention to how long it takes to get places. I'll also need to get in the habit of avoiding time-eating distractions. Together, these steps and this habit will help me achieve the result I want.

As you think about your own organizing goals for this year, remember that it's the steps and habits that will get you where you want to be; in addition, they're what will allow you to maintain your results long-term, so that by the time 2009 rolls around, you'll be able to focus on new goals.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and organized 2008!