New year’s resolutions help you start the year with clear goals. Although these goals can be personal, many people enjoy setting resolutions related to their careers. Either way, some of the best resolutions you can adopt relate to productivity since it impacts all areas of your life.
If you want to increase your productivity and efficiency at home and work in the new year, you can take on any of these recommended new year’s resolutions.
1. Adopt Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a way of capturing your innermost thoughts, ideas, and concerns. You start with a central theme or idea, then list out associations and continue outward like a tree. It is a great tool to help you collect information, problem-solve, and work through creative ideas.
Although it may sound like a lot of work, many productivity masterminds swear by mind mapping because it helps train your brain to work through challenges or generate ideas more quickly. Once you do it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it and adopt it into all areas of life.
2. Establish a Consistent Morning Routine
The way you start your day often sets the tone for the rest of your waking hours. Yet many of us either rush out the door or start the day by mindlessly scrolling through social media. Neither helps you prepare for the day ahead and can actually worsen the day.
A consistent morning routine can help you start the day off positively and lower stress levels. Your routine should reflect your needs, but some key components may include eating a nutritious breakfast, meditating, or doing light exercise.
3. Set Limits With Social Media
Social media is a great way to stay connected with loved ones. However, many people spend excessive time on these platforms, which distracts them from staying productive. Therefore, you may want to set a resolution involving less social media time.
To do this, you should first track how much time you spend on social media apps over the course of a day (or week). Then, set realistic goals to help you slowly use social media less. If you need help enforcing these goals, you can use built-in or third-party applications that lock or limit your time on your phone.
4. Follow a Sleep Schedule
No one can be productive if they don’t sleep well. Also, sleep inconsistencies can throw off the equilibrium of your day-to-day life and make it hard to establish other healthy habits that can boost productivity. So, it would be best to establish a clear sleep schedule with a routine where you do the same things in the same order every night. Also, make sure you set your bedroom up to promote sleep.
5. Take Care of Your Body and Mind
There’s a significant connection between health and productivity, though most people don’t realize it. When we sacrifice time for self-care or healthy habits to do more work, we set ourselves up to be less productive because our minds don’t operate effectively when stressed or burned out.
Depending on your needs, you may set resolutions to eat healthier, take regular breaks during the work day, exercise more regularly, meditate daily, or spend more time outside. These goals help you care for your body and mind, which ultimately helps you be more productive.
6. Give Something Up That Holds You Back
Do you have habits that interfere with your productivity or everyday life? If so, breaking these habits may be an excellent place to start with resolutions for the year. It could be substance use, binge-watching television shows, or pushing the snooze button too much. Whatever it is, draw up a clear plan to break the habit and start implementing your plan. Soon enough, you may see your productivity improve.
7. Adopt Monday Resets
Many New Year’s Resolutions fail because people either lack accountability or lose momentum when they slip up on their new habits for a day. If you have had these issues in the past, then a better approach might be to take on weekly objectives or goals and reset them every Monday (or whatever day you wish).
This “Monday reset” lets you be intentional about what you focus on each week and helps you set small goals directly related to your productivity. You can even do a mixture of work-related goals and objectives for your personal life.
8. Declutter Your Space
Clutter makes it hard to focus, which directly impacts your productivity. Therefore, resolving to declutter and maintain a clean workspace can help you increase your productivity. Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and decluttering takes time.
It’s Time to Increase Your Productivity
Many people want to increase their productivity without burning out; the abovementioned resolutions can help. If you are concerned you may not reach your goals, check out these tips on achieving your new year’s resolutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the best time to start New Year's resolutions?
Although many people start resolutions on January 1, you can (and should) start something new anytime you’re ready to change.
How do you become productive?
You increase productivity when your day-to-day actions consistently move you closer to your long-term goals.
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