Happy New Year!
By now you’ve had a few days to get back into the swing of things at work (hello, 500 items on the to-do list this week!) and maybe get perspective on what you really want to do in the coming year (more power to you if it involves fighting the first-week-of-January crowds at the gym).
It also means it’s time to get serious about the coming year at work.
While many people make New Year’s resolutions about their personal lives, very few make them about work.
In fact, according to Statistic Brain, none of the top 10 most common New Year’s resolutions has anything to do with work.
That’s somewhat shocking, because New Year’s offers a great chance to recalibrate and reframe your approach and your attitude at work.
We’ve put together four New Year’s resolutions for work that you can achieve with just a bit of extra focus. These focus on work habits and behaviors that will put you in better position to succeed.
When you do that, the pats on the back and promotions will take care of themselves. In addition, we’ll keep you honest this month by posting reminders and updates on Facebook to keep you focused on your goals, which are all too easy to forget by midway through the month, when the New Year’s fervor has died down.
So, without further delay, here are four work resolutions that will help you win 2017.
- Learn to delegate.
We know this one is a toughie. It can be difficult to teach others to do things you know you could finish in five minutes yourself. But if you don’t delegate, the people below you won’t get any better. They also won’t feel as if you’re invested in them. They will work harder for you when they see that you trust them and are willing to help them succeed (and sometimes fail).
- Set goals.
This sounds obvious. Don’t you have goals every day, such as finishing projects or filing reports? Well, yes, but you should also have overarching goals that drive you at work. Maybe you want a promotion, a raise, or to learn some new skills. If you keep your eyes on the day-to-day rather than the big picture, you may not make progress toward the long-term goals that will help you in your career.
- Keep your inbox organized.
If you currently have 1,000 unread messages in your inbox, you know how daunting it can be to get your email under control. But even if those are mostly spam, you still need to clean them out. You cannot function properly at work unless your communication channels stay clear, and with an overflowing inbox, you’re more likely to miss important notices or deadlines.
- Find a new way to network.
Maybe you join a new organization, such as a young professionals group, or perhaps you find a new place to volunteer. Whatever you do, put yourself out there among new people. We believe the value of networking is in becoming comfortable around new people and new things. That’s an essential skill to have at work, and you’ll see the benefits of it way down the line.
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Now stay tuned for part two: Each Friday on Facebook, we’ll reveal one strategy to help you keep these resolutions!
