I did an assessment tour of my yard on a recent sunny weekend afternoon.  This exercise is by no means making any commitment to actually do anything, but it is important to size up the tasks and prioritize and schedule the chores to eliminate any waste of time or energy.

Too many times we rush into jobs without any pre-planning and find ourselves saying, 鈥橠arn, I should have measured that thing before I ordered those things.鈥�  Taking the extra time at the assessment stage of a project can pay off in the end.

I could start cleaning and preparing all my flower beds but I鈥檝e been thinking about getting some new topsoil so I might just as well wait until I get that so I鈥檓 not raking and digging twice. I鈥檒l have to check around for soil prices.

My sundeck needs a lot of work. The shade and rainwater have rotted some of the posts and the entire railing has to come off. The stairs are also wobbly. I have to decide what kind of decking I鈥檓 going to use and how that will impact the stair replacement. Maybe I should have someone a few grades up the carpenter scale to look at that project.

The new fence we put up last year should be painted or stained. The house also needs to be painted, so should I buy a natural stain for the fence or get paint for the fence to match the trim on the house? I think I have some of those paint selection charts somewhere; I鈥檒l find them and take a look. It鈥檚 too early in the year to paint anyhow.

I also think I need new windows. I鈥檓 the only one in the neighbourhood who doesn鈥檛 have them, and a friend suggested that the heat loss from my house alone could be accounting for our recent mild winters. I suppose I should put windows in before I paint. Look at the condition of those gutters too, and the moss on the shady side of the roof isn鈥檛 good. I鈥檒l have to get some prices.

That old freezer that found its way here has to go and so does that old truck rear end. Add to that a large pile of brush from last fall鈥檚 pruning and I have a good load to go for salvage and the dump. I could load that up and swing by and get some top soil on the way back. Good plan, but it鈥檚 too late in the day to start that.

My Dad鈥檚 old wind chimes tinkle as a wisp of wind passes through. They hang from a fir tree by the picnic table just as they did at his place. Many sunny afternoons after a day of clean-up we would sit there with coffee and pie after all the work was done. That memory reminds me there is another option here today. I don鈥檛 have to do anything.

I make a cup of coffee and carry my Stephen King book out to the picnic table. The chimes chatter a welcome and I spend the rest of afternoon sitting in the sun reading.

Decision making can be stressful. Setting priorities, establishing timelines and manpower requirements, choosing colours and styles can pile up heavily on top of us.

When this happens, it鈥檚 not fun anymore. Sometimes the best option of all is just to do nothing.

At least that鈥檚 what McGregor says.