1. Make resolutions – but only if you are really want to change
Many of us are sceptical about New Year’s resolutions, but they might stand a chance of working: if you’re really ready to make the change that you say you want to make.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, ‘readiness to change and self-efficacy’ predicted successful outcomes for the 50% of the population making New Year’s resolutions each January. Think about whether you really want to change, and why. If you do want to keep a resolution, the same study also found that successful resolvers employed ‘more behavioural strategies, and less self-blame and wishful thinking than unsuccessful resolvers.’ Behavioural strategies include things like swapping a bad habit for good one – like going for a walk in the evenings instead of opening a bottle of wine.
2. Last drinks
Speaking of drinking, you may have had a few over the festive season. It’s an easy thing to make light of, but the Australian Drug Foundation estimates that the impact of alcohol misuse on workplace productivity is ‘colossal – an estimated cost of over $6 billion per annum.’ Presumably this doesn’t even include all those mornings you spent staring at a blank page wondering why the clock was going so slowly.
So don’t let the festive season’s bad habits carry over into the new year. If, like a friend of mine, you believe that ‘the only time cold turkey works is on boxing day’, then just set yourself a sensible limit and stick to it. Your liver (and wallet) will thank you.
3. Exercise at work
It seems like every time you go to a doctor, they tell you to get more exercise. So do you need to hear it from me too? Gyms are getting pretty crowded this time of year, but don’t go taking out a new membership just yet: one Swedish study found that people who were able to exercise at work were able to achieve the same, or higher, levels of productivity than those who didn’t make the time to leave their desks. So find a way to fit exercise in. One easy ways to do this is riding into work instead of sitting in a car or a bus.
You’re less likely to skip out on something if it’s regular, or you make a plan to exercise with a friend or colleague, so take advantage of the fact that we’re creatures of habit and make a regular time to exercise.
4. Set SMART goals
It might also be helpful to focus on the future instead of dwelling on the holiday you just had – but if you’re going to get strategic and plan for 2014, take a leaf out of the business world and set some SMART goals for your career. SMART is an acronym for goals that are:
- Specific – they are clear, and well described
- Measurable – you’ll know whether you’ve achieved them or not, or when you have
- Achievable – know your limits, and your weaknesses, and make it something you can actually do
- Realistic – plan for a few bumps in the road or setbacks along the way
- Timely – with an appropriate time frame for completion
5. Keep track of your time
Not enough time in the day? Take account of how you’re spending it. As an experiment, a colleague of mine started keeping a tally of how much time she spend on administration, email, different aspects of the job, even socialising – you can divvy it up as much or little as you like. She was surprised, and you might be too, how much time some tasks are taking up: and they might not be the important ones.
You are less likely to waste time on unimportant things if you’re faced with a tally at the end of the day of how you spent it.
6. Make time for the things that are important
Goethe, the polymathic 18th century writer, politician, and scientist, once said ‘Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.’ He left behind a huge body of work including plays, poetry, novels, and hundreds of letters, so he probably knew a thing or two about not procrastinating.
There’s a difference between urgent things and important things. It’s easy for the constant demands of emails that need answering now and meetings blocked out in your diary to mean you have no time for the work that is the essence of what you do. And if work tends to dominate your life, remember this maxim applies to the work-life balance too.
7. Get rid of clutter
Clutter in the bedroom can be responsible for insomnia and stubbed toes; clutter in the workplace makes you inefficient and leaves you feeling overwhelmed.
If you’ve come back from leave to an untidy desk/studio/office, or if you don’t even remember what a clean desk looks like, then block out time to tidy up your space and get your working area in order.
The same applies to your online filing system. Give yourself a chance now to get it set up properly, before your inbox is snowed in with urgent requests again.
8. Make lists
Our brains seem to prefer organising our lives through lists. From the popularity of internet articles in list format to Author Ray Bradbury, who thought that the act of list-making itself might be a good way to spark creativity, there’s enough evidence that lists help us organise and prioritise the confusing variety of tasks we have before us. At the very least it’s an easy, achievable way to feel like you’ve started working towards your goals, and it might help trick your brain back into work mode.
If you have a smart-phone then you have a way to take your lists with you wherever you go – so use it to your advantage if you aren’t already.
9. Get your sleeping habits back under control
Even if you stayed in the same time zone over the holiday break, chances are you probably started sleeping in, or staying up late, or otherwise got into bad sleeping habits. Now that having a nap in the middle of your 2pm meeting isn’t an option, you might be feeling a bit sleep deprived.
Not getting enough sleep impacts on your ability to function, and it’s the last thing you need when you’re trying to bounce back from the holidays. So start practicing good sleep hygiene as soon as possible. Wake up and go to bed at regular times, and avoid alcohol, smoking and exercise immediately before bedtime – they’ll disrupt your sleeping patterns.
10. Have something to look forward to
Still can’t wait to go back on holiday? Well then plan your next one and have that to look forward to. Or if you’ve come back with a clear head from the holiday break and realised that this job just isn’t for you, start looking for a new one. Most people change jobs in the new year so this is a good time to look.
Giving yourself something to look forward to, which could be anything from saving up to buy a new laptop to going on a yoga retreat, will remind you why you are working – until the intrinsic satisfaction of the job kicks in.
