New Year’s Resolutions Management 101

Every January, friends, co-workers and the internet goes all in on the topic of New Year’s Resolutions. People talk about dedicating at least 21 days to a resolution to be sure that it sticks. Others point out that even if it does stick on day 22, it might still be months before you actually reap the benefits of all that self-improvement work. Regardless, if you’re going to get anywhere, you just need to start.

As January comes to an end (and those first 21 days fly off the calendar), I’ve reflected on some of my New Year’s Resolutions and how well I’ve maintained them these past few weeks. Overall, I would have to say I have been pretty successful in sticking to them. How did I do that? By utilizing these three tools:

Google Drive: I can keep track of my different schedules, notes, email addresses, photos, and other files across my work and home desktops and laptops, and on the go on my phone.

Notebooks: Writing a checklist everyday or jotting down general notes is a good way to keep track of tasks and ideas for both professional and personal use. I make it more enjoyable to use and maintain by choosing blank pages allowing use of fun stencils, adding quotes, memories, stickers, and other things.

Post-Its: A super low maintenance way to give friendly reminders to others or to keep tasks on your radar.

Other ways I like to stay organized are by using templates already programmed in Microsoft Office or Excel. They have several planners, checklists, budget managers and other options you can use and adjust to fit your planning needs.

Rather than just follow my lead when it comes to sticking to those nagging New Year’s Resolutions. I asked around the office for some other fun and creative goals or ways to maintain them. Here’s what the rest of the BMSD team is doing:

Bullet or Bujo Journaling

Beyond calendars and checklists, this journaling technique gives you the freedom to add pictures, quotes, tickets, flowers, stickers, and essentially anything else as long as it fits. From the picture above, you can see just how much our senior designer Katie gets into it.

Pinterest Boards, Mood Boards and Collages

Gather pictures of inspirational people or things that motivate you to accomplish your goals. Images can range from abstract ideas to the exact image that represents your goal. Pinterest is great for a more hands-off digital approach or you can make a physical collage. In addition to reminding you of your goals, these boards are fun to make and make unique decorations in your home.

Investing In Yourself Challenge

This challenge requires you to make a list of 100 items you want to do in your life. These can be New Year’s Resolutions, general goals, educational, traveling, etc. You divide these 100 items into 3 categories: things you can do now, things you need more skills for and things that need time. Our account manager Carlie has 70 items on her list so far. So close!

Apartment Therapy – The January Cure

Our designer Katie is also participating in this fun and creative challenge that helps you stay clean and organized in your living space. Although these lessons are centered around organization in your home, these ideas can easily applied to all sorts of areas in your life.

Other ideas that our crew uses to stay on top of resolutions:

• Mobile Apps and Chrome Plug-ins – for example Google Keep for note taking.
• WordPress, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook accounts – followers and interactions are great support and ways to learn and advance in the realm of your goals.
• Snapchat – create a second account and send action shots or updates to this account. Log in to the account at 6 months or New Year’s Eve to see how far you’vc come.
• Money Jar – Select an amount ($5 or $10 to start) and save it in a jar (decorated, if you wish) every time this amount comes into your possession.
• Printed Goals List – Print a list of your goals and leave it somewhere for you to read every morning. (In addition to this list, frequently ask yourself WHY these items are on your list and HOW you can achieve them.)
• Digital Goals List – Write out a list of goals or tasks on your phone and set it as your background (export from a text app, take a screen shot, find a picture of your goal, etc.).
• Accountability Partner – find a partner with the same goal and work on it together. To really motivate each other and have more fun, have the person that slacks or does not reach the goal do something unappealing. An extreme example would be the “loser” gets a ridiculous tattoo.

I hope these ideas inspire you to take your New Year’s Resolutions and goals to the next level! Happy planning!