Terri Wilson is a solo librarian at the law firm of Underwood, Wilson, Berry, Stein, and Johnson, PC in Amarillo, Texas. She has a BFA in Theatre from Eastern New Mexico University, an MFA in Theatre from Texas Tech University, and an MS in Library & Information Science from the University of North Texas. Prior to becoming a law librarian, Terri was a paraprofessional for six years in the reference department of the University Library at Texas Tech. And prior to that, she explored a cornucopia of employment positions while a laboring as a struggling actor (emphasis on the struggling part). Terri has recently started a blog for creative ideas for librarians.

It’s that time of year again. How many of you have spent some time this month resolving to eat less, exercise more, stop smoking, stop drinking, stop all forms of carbohydrates? Did you make a resolution to be more creative this year? You can. And pulling it off will probably be easier than your other resolutions.

Start with just one hour a week. One measly little hour. Do you know how many hours there are in a week? Me neither, but you can be sure it’s a pretty high number and taking just one of them should not be an arduous task. You can pick one morning and get up one hour earlier. You can pick one lunch hour, one day when you’ll put off going home for sixty minutes. Just one hour to indulge in your creative self.

Ok. I’ve picked my hour. Now what? Go back to some of the lists you’ve made from one of my previous columns. Write down ten hobbies or activities in which you currently partake. Then one hour a week, choose one from the list and do it. Write down ten things you used to love doing but don’t anymore. Then one hour a week, choose one from the list and do it. Write down ten new things that you’d like to try. Then one hour a week, choose one from your list and do it.

See? You’re already over halfway through the year, and you’re still keeping your creativity resolution. Has your promise to exercise more ever lasted that long? And hopefully you’ll feel energized to expand your creative activity to more than one day a week or more than an hour at a time. Hopefully, once you get the ball rolling, you’ll find all sorts of outlets for your creative self at work, at home, anywhere, anytime. Now doesn’t that sound better than giving up carbs?