Everyone knows New Year's resolutions are made to be broken. So why bother? Because the very act of writing them down forces us to realize that we have goals in the first place, and subsequently helps us define what they are.

Oh, let's face it. Everyone, from new grads to CEOs, has resolutions for the New Year. We spoke to some notables (and not-so-notables) to find out what their plans are for 2001.

Eliminating time wasters
"I'm making several resolutions, all of which could be categorized under the heading 'Stop Wasting My Time!'," says attorney and food writer Steven Shaw, aka Fat Guy of . Here are his top five:

1. To use in-office downtime productively - to learn something or to accomplish personal tasks so that my out-of-office free time will actually be free - anything but surfing the Web or gabbing uselessly on the phone.
2. To read a few good books instead of a lot of garbage.
3. To get out of relationships with "friends" I no longer actually like, and to make new friends who share (or can at least relate to) my values and priorities.
4. To check my e-mail less often, so as to avoid the temptation to answer messages when I should be doing other things, and to engage in extensive telephone call screening without regard for whether people think it's rude.
5. To jealously guard my time in every other way possible.

Todd Polkes, is only one month into his new job as director of media relations for Here are his ambitious goals for the millennium.

1. Read less magazines and more books (my copy of Barbara Walters: TV Superstar doesn't count).
2. Have lunch or dinner at least once with every writer in New York covering my industry [TV].
3. Start reading those e-mails from Disney that begin, "Dear Fellow Cast Member."
4. Meet with a different on-air journalist at least once a week to get a sense of who they are and where they want to be.
5. Convert my press lists to e-mail form.
6. Drink less coffee and more water.
7. Lose five pounds and make my cat lose ten.

Here, Scott Schwartz, director of IT for , has plans both big and modest for his January 2001.

1. I resolve to move up to the bigger size Post-it notes that you can fit more than four or five words on.
2. I resolve to actually use my desk calendar this coming year.
3. I resolve to stop using the phrase "no problem" when talking to clients; too often, it turns out the request will be a problem.
4. I resolve to stop wasting my time emailing the idiots who send me "Bill Gates wants to give you $1000" emails. There is no sense in trying to stop morons.
5. I resolve to stop checking my work e-mail when I'm at home at night or on weekends. The office should stay at the office, if only so I can get some quality Quake time in and catch up on taped episodes of "The West Wing".
6. I resolve to keep better receipts.
7. I resolve to stop reading about my old company on Vault.com and to do more proactive things to bring about its demise.

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Jillian Kasky, editor in chief of , has one main, somewhat surprising, resolution.

Organize my personal finances. I spend so much time writing to others about the importance of keeping clean files, detailed records and a good eye on tax gains and losses, that I am too tired to take care of my own at the end of the day!

Balancing work with life
Mark Dacey, president of Adweek, wants to:

Delegate more decision-making to my team so I can spend more time with my family.

(We didn't ask his team for their resolutions.)

Down to business
Matthew Doull, a partner at , has a number of goals for 2001, among them:

1. To work from home more (and more productively).
2. Remodel his offices for $50,000 or less.
3. Invest only in companies that can grow 100-fold in value.
4. Throw away files that are more than four years old.
5. And participate more in the life of his community through philanthropy and volunteering.

Living the high-tech life
Jason McCabe Calacanis, editor & CEO of , says his resolutions, in no particular order, are to:

1. Delegate more.
2. Learn how to use FinalCut Pro and make a short film.
3. Go to bed before 2 a.m. every weeknight.
4. Spend more quality time with his girlfriend.
5. Start running again.
6. Develop an unstoppable pull-up jumper (a basketball move, for those of you not in the know).

The e-biquitous Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings, pledges to:

1. Answer or at least "handle" all the e-mail in her inbox.
2. Not to say yes to anything she'll regret later.
3. Take a real vacation (and who doesn't need to?)

New York City Public Advocate Mark Green's "business resolutions" for 2001 are, unsuprisingly, quite civic-minded.

1. Bring economic development strategies like High Tech Zones to all five boroughs in New York City.
2. Fix the city's overcrowded elementary schools.
3. Enlist business as a partner in legislation to protect the economic security of women who are victims of domestic violence.

Guess Mark doesn't need to lose five pounds.

Competitive spirit
John Katzman, President & CEO of , has two New Year's resolutions for his test-prep company:

1. Successfully complete our IPO.
2. Crush Kaplan like a bug.

What are your business resolutions? Post them on our message board and see what other people are pledging for 2001.