With the new year rolling in, you’ve probably made your own resolutions, be it to lose some weight or to finally finish that novel you bought last year. But as you step into a new year brimming with new possibilities and opportunities, it’s also a great time to step up your game at work, too.
Apart from reflecting and adjusting your goals from last year, here are some other ways that you can set yourself up for the new work year.
Re-organise your space
It’s tradition to do some spring cleaning at home in preparation for the Chinese New Year. But who says you can’t apply the same idea to your workspace? It’s been found that the state of your physical environment while working can have an effect on your productivity and stress levels among other things, so do yourself a favour and tidy up your desk! Of course, you don’t have to do one big round of deep-cleaning. If you’re pressed for time, you can always start small by tidying up parts of your workspace – from getting rid of that stack of old documents to re-organising your drawers. That way it’ll be a lot easier for you to find what you need without losing too much time.
Track your progress
The new year is a great time for you to have a fresh crack at the career goals that you set for yourself. But as you go through the year, dealing with the same daily tasks, it can be easy to lose track of what you were aiming for and end up feeling like you’ve made no progress.
A simple way to get around this is to use a journal. After you’ve finished work for the day, set aside five minutes to reflect on what you’ve done and what you need to work on next. You can even add in what setbacks or small victories you experienced that day, too. This will not only serve as a physical record of your progress, but whenever you’re feeling discouraged, you can always look back at your past efforts and see how far you’ve come. Although it might seem tedious at times, it’s certainly a better alternative than having to recall several weeks of tasks in one go when you need to report back to your supervisor on what you’ve done so far!
Look out for yourself
In addition to making sure everything is running smoothly at work, be sure not to neglect your well-being as well. Even the best planned-out tasks won’t mean a thing if you aren’t performing at your best, after all.
It can be difficult to prioritise your health at times, especially if you’re stuck in an office all day swamped with work, but it is important to pay attention to all aspects of your health, not just physical. When you aren’t feeling completely healthy, not only will you feel the effects physically, your happiness will declines and with it the quality of your work!
Check up on your finances
Although you might feel ambitious enough to set some big financial goals for yourself this year, it’s ultimately better to concentrate on resolutions that are not only manageable, but are within your current priorities as well. But do take stock of your current financial situation before setting those goals, if you haven’t already done so. That way, you'll be able to know what you need to settle now and what can be set aside for another time.
Regardless of how last year went for you, with a new year comes new opportunities and experiences for you, as long as you are willing to reach out to them. So keep an open mind and a positive attitude and prepare yourself for the year ahead – it just might be your best one yet.