What’s the goal of a personal productivity system—the collection of to-do lists, calendars, and other tools we use to keep our lives running smoothly? Here’s the answer in one word:

Trust.

In the end, we’re trying to achieve a measure of trust—the easy feeling that what we’re doing is what we’re supposed to be doing, that we’re not forgetting anything, and that we don’t have to worry that the bottom is about to drop out of our lives. Trust allows us to focus deeply on the task at hand and relax just as deeply when we’re not working.

New Year’s resolutions are a tricky subject. Some love them, others mock them mercilessly. Most have heard that they’re famously unsuccessful—it’s hard to find good data, but by some estimates, around 90% of all resolutions fall by the wayside. There’s power in the idea of a fresh start, though, and if you’ve set New Year’s resolutions, that’s great—here’s how to increase your chances of success.

Be specific about what and when

“I’m going to try to exercise more” is, well, a pretty bad New Year’s resolution.

If you're reading this brief post, you probably give and receive quite a few presents this time of year. My family's Christmas gift-giving just concluded, and as usual, many thoughtful, useful gifts changed hands. We are immensely fortunate to be able to practice such generosity, and you probably are too.

Perhaps the only downside to all this abundance is the nagging feeling, as we begin to integrate our new belongings into our lives, that we sure do have a lot of stuff. We had a lot of stuff already, we admit to ourselves, and now we have even more. We feel a twinge of shame over our good fortune, and with it comes a mild sense of foreboding: someday---maybe many years from now, but someday---we're going to have to pay the piper. Eventually, we (or someone else) will have to sort through all this stuff.

You're sitting at a red light, waiting to make a left into the grocery store parking lot. A green arrow appears, and you ease into the intersection. Screeching brakes pierce the silence---a red SUV is hurtling toward you through a red light. You mash the accelerator and your vehicle darts forward, narrowly missing the oncoming SUV. The driver speeds away.

As you safely pull into the parking lot, what goes through your mind?

On quiet weekends, I'm often torn between two competing thoughts.

• "You should relax, Vieker. You've had a productive week."
• "You should be doing something! Something fun, maybe, but something nonetheless. Sitting around doing nothing is no way to spend your precious free time."

Both viewpoints have some merit. We deserve some rest from our labors, but sitting around the house half the day doesn't make us feel very good. It always seems like it will, though. Unstructured free time is a mirage---it promises happiness but never seems to deliver.