Setting New Year’s Resolutions

29 Jan Setting New Year’s Resolutions

The beginning of a new year is an excellent opportunity to incorporate positive changes into your life. Whether you’re looking to become more healthy, get more organized, or accomplish any other goals you may have, there is no better time to set intentions and make resolutions. 

Choosing Your New Year’s Resolutions

This doesn’t have to be complicated. Ask yourself a few of the following questions:

• Where would I like to be in a year?
• What areas of my life could use improvement, and how can I improve those areas?
• Is there something about myself that I wish was different?
• What about my life could be different so that it brings me more joy?
• Is there something that would make me proud to achieve?
• What lifestyle changes could I make to become healthier and happier?

You can also make new year’s resolutions for specific areas of your life. Some examples include:

• Financial: Spending less on certain things or saving more towards a goal like homeownership or a much-needed vacation.
• Physical Health: Drinking more water, planning your meals, or doing some kind of physical movement once a day (walking, yoga, group fitness class, etc.)
• Mental Health: Incorporating meditation or journaling into your day, starting therapy, or learning how to set boundaries.
• Personal and Professional Development: Reading more books, taking online courses, or attending conferences. Websites like MasterClass and Udemy are great for finding options that fit with your interests.

Plan for Your Resolutions

Keeping your resolutions requires preparation. According to a study of 3,000 people by Richard Wiseman, around 88 percent of people forget about their New Year’s resolutions. Taking the time to actively plan for them as part of your everyday life (not just in January!) makes it more likely that you will stick with them. 

Creating a plan and writing it down is one good way to do this. For instance, if one of your resolutions is to read more books, you could schedule a specific time each day that is dedicated to reading. This would help you make reading a part of your regular routine. Plus, writing down things like goals and resolutions has been shown to increase the chances of accomplishing them.

When in Doubt, Start Small

A big reason why many people eventually give up on their New Year’s resolutions is that they’re trying to do too much at once. For example, it’s unrealistic to go from never working out to trying to run five miles a day, or from having five Diet Cokes a day to drinking only water.. Try breaking your resolutions down into incremental, attainable goals. By setting smaller, more easily achievable goals, you increase your likelihood of actually sticking with them and achieving them.

How Can Artful Agenda Help?

Artful Agenda is a great place to get yourself organized and ready to tackle your New Year’s resolutions. Here are some ways our desktop and mobile apps can help you!

• The List tab is a great place to break your resolutions down into smaller goals. You can even assign the items in these lists to specific days so you can make sure they get done!
• With Artful Agenda, you get a monthly, weekly and daily planner all in one beautiful place. Once something is added to your schedule, it automatically shows up in all three views, saving you time and effort when trying to organize your schedule.
• Our recurring tasks make it easy to “set it and forget it,” so your to-do list always has the things on it that you need to get done.
• We have a private Facebook group just for Artful Agenda users, where you can share ideas, ask questions, and see how others are using the app.

Artful Agenda also has great features for helping you stick to specific resolutions!

Drink More Water

Most people spend their days in a state of mild dehydration, and drinking more water has a wide range of benefits from improving your complexion to helping your organs perform their necessary functions. Artful Agenda’s Day view has a water tracker, so no need to worry about downloading a separate app to help you stay hydrated.

Start Journaling

Keeping a journal is a great way to decrease anxiety and stress. There is also proof that journaling can help your memory by improving retention and increasing working memory capacity. Our custom list section can easily become your daily journal. Simply toggle off the checkmarks and change the title to your liking. Having it as a part of an app you use every day makes it simple to incorporate journaling into your daily routine.

Planning Your Meals

Planning meals will help you save money while making it easier to consistently eat healthier. Our Week view has a place for you to plan your meals for each day, and these meal plans automatically show up in the Day view as well!

Have you tried Artful Agenda yet? Click here to start your free two-week trial! And make sure to check out our Artfully Obsessed Facebook Group to see how other users are utilizing Artful Agenda to stick to their resolutions.

This post is part of Twinkl’s New Year Campaign and is featured in 20+ New Year’s Resolutions For Families