New year, new me? I’m sure you’ve heard that many times over. But what about a new you at work? It is the new work year for most and, therefore, important to begin thinking about the days ahead. What are some things we could start doing, or things we should do better going forward? Here are some tips to help us answer these and prepare for the new year of work:
1. Review the past year – Reflection is key to any kind of development. Therefore, we must first reflect upon last year’s activities, the experiences we’ve had and the lessons learned, if we are to truly be prepared to take on everything this new year has to offer—whether personally or at work.
2. Assess your work life – Some personal assessment never hurts. How would you describe the majority of your days at work? Were you feeling happy, successful, frustrated, unsatisfied or something else? Whatever the answer may be and whether things turned out how you expected or not, this is an opportunity for you to manage the time and energy you have now and decide how you will allocate both towards achieving a different/better reality.
3. Have a goal that sets the tone for your new year – You’ve thought about the past year and how you felt during that time at work. Now what? You need an overarching personal goal to set you on a path of self-preservation, personal growth and positive change. Examples of such a goal include: ‘Understand how best I can collaborate to make things [more] interesting’, ‘Speak up before I get to my limit’, ‘Learn when to say no’ or ‘Choose to not let unprofessional behaviour go by’. These goals in action could perhaps take the form of finding tasks that bring you more gratification, setting boundaries for yourself and prioritising your responsibilities, exploring more effective ways of achieving work-life balance, or setting time aside to speak candidly with your manager, respectively.
4. Create a vision board – How do you want your new year at work to look? Do you have a new interest in mind that your current role doesn’t include? How do your goals look in reality? What are the practical aspects to meeting these goals? All of this and more can find a home on your vision board. It may be physical or an online vision board. Be honest with yourself and ensure this board is always visible to you as a reminder of the path you’ve set yourself.
5. Keep yourself motivated and accountable (with help) – The reality is that your motivation to continue along the path you’ve set for yourself will fluctuate as the days go by, for different reasons. The important thing is that you do whatever is necessary to keep you going and/or recognise when you are going off track. For that, you will need an ‘accountability partner’. This person understands how you operate and is someone you can trust. That person may be your teammate or even your manager.
Bonus
Detox and de-clutter – Mindfulness matters. How aware are you of your reality at work? Your body, mind and workspace need to be cleared of anything that may be an obstacle in your way forward. This could mean you need to change what you eat at work (do you feel tired/de-motivated after your usual go-to meal?); how much you work versus the amount of rest you get (are you using your vacation days effectively?); how you begin your day (do you need to practice self-affirmation or is there something you always start off with that sets a bad tone for your day?); and/or get rid of things that have piled up but are no longer of use (to your work or the company).
By doing these things, we give ourselves a chance at a fresh start, with a great deal of personal organisation for a healthier work-life experience, and are likely to stay motivated. Have you already thought of something you could do?
Yohan Lee
English Copy Editor and Copy Writer, Medline Europe
Yohan is a Jamaican expat based in the Netherlands. Writing is ‘One Love’ that he explores through general business copywriting, poetry and music. His educational background is in journalism, gender and development, and media and globalisation. Learn more on LinkedIn.
20 January 2023
