Today marks the end of another 365 days in our lives. A lot of people had resolutions for 2018 and made the best of it, some barely lived through it, while some managed to reach a few goals. Whichever one you fall into, the most important thing is that you lived and survived till the last day and that’s enough to be thankful for.
I am sure by now a number of us have picked our pen and notebooks and started strategizing for a productive 2019. This is indeed a good way for making the most of the new year but it is not enough.
I used to write a long list of what and what I would do for the new year but barely 2 weeks into the new year, I’m back to my old ways of doing things.
However, there are a few important things we all need to take note of as we prepare to start 2019. While these are not necessarily goals, they are ways to make the most of the year and become even more productive.
1. Be Grateful
I’m one of the ones who complaints a lot, and always find one million faults when things are going wrong. When these happen, I forget all the good things that has happened in the past. Lately, I’m trying to drop this terrible habit. No matter how little you think someone is doing for you, be thankful and grateful to them, it’s the little we can give back.
A lot of people inconvenience themselves to please us and it’s an ungrateful act when we give them the ‘what have you done?’ vibe.
Aside humans, let’s cultivate the habit to praise God everyday. Even in difficult situations, the gift of life is so much hope that the next day would be better.
2. Take Breaks When Needed
We are not robots. We are designed to break down at intervals especially when we get overworked. It is very important to understand your body system and take breaks where and when needed. Successful people know when it’s time to work and time to play.
Hangout with friends, plan solo trips for relaxation and meditation, go on vacation with loved ones, go for personal retreat, or stay at home and rest.
Mental health is as important as physical health, if at any point you see such signs that threatens your mental health, speak to a therapist or counselor. And do not be scared to get professional help should the case be severe.
3. Keep a Calendar
You can use the traditional desk or wall calendar or a phone calendar. The important thing is keeping track of to-dos to avoid missing out on important details. You can do this daily, weekly or monthly, as long as you keep track of all that is needed to do and ensuring you do them.
Personally, I have notes where I write my weekly task. Everyday, I write this out on sticky notes and paste them in my office corner, rooms and sometimes behind my phone. Once I achieve any, I tick it off and focus on the next one.
4. Set Realistic Objectives for a Productive 2019
So for me, rather than list out what I want to do in a year, I set monthly or quarterly objectives. That way, it’s easier to pursue and track it.
Sometimes, we are too hard on ourselves and say we plan to build a house in 3 months on an income that isn’t even sufficient to buy a land.
If it works for you, set monthly realistic objectives. Say for instance you run a blog, you may want to say in the month of January, I hope to share 10 blog post, increase my traffic by 10,000 views and share more links.
Now, you have to break these into little task to make it work, like:
- Write more relatable posts that people would love to interact on and even share with friends.
- Promote your blog post like your life depends on it
- Research for content and take your time to write. Never be in a rush to share any post.
- Collect emails and make great use of newsletters to connect with your reader.
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5. Cultivate a Saving Habit
This has always been my mantra everyday of my life. While I’m one who splurge a lot because like the popular saying, ‘You only live once’, still I don’t joke with saving. If I have N1,000 and I’m splurging N400 and everyone thinks it’s N4,000, I’m low key saving N600 for days when there’s no rain.
Maximize saving opportunities around you and ensure you stick to it. Saving can be hard, trust me but when it’s time to get the benefits, you’d be glad you did.
6. Invest in Self Development
The world is gradually becoming a global village and so much trends we are used to are currently becoming obsolete. Start figuring out what you love doing best and taking crash courses in becoming a genius at them.
Do you wish to pursue your BSc, Masters or PhD, then go for it. Do not wait for others opinion to choose what you’d love to do or become. Learn new languages, dishes and skills and be the best version of you. Maximize the use of Linkedin, Coursera, Philanthropy University and the rest to learn new soft skills and develop yourself. Be very open to knowledge and also add value to others.
7. Insomnia is an Enemy of Productivity
A lot of times, I have battled with insomnia and it has decrease my level of productivity a whole lot. While it seems as if you are very efficient at night, half the time your thought process isn’t. And a whole lot of times, you are nearly not good and productive during the day as you have to take lots of caffeine to stay active.
At some point, I signed up for a sleep therapy to ensure I get adequate help.
Not sleeping well isn’t sane for anyone, it doesn’t make you a genius or an hard worker. Rather, it’s effect on your health is so bad and this makes you very unproductive. Ensure you take sleep serious and try as much as possible to get up to 6-7 hours of sleep daily.
What’s your mantra to a successful 2019 and what bad habit are you looking at dropping? Share your thoughts, you may be helping another.
Have a prosperous new year ahead.
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Staying grateful can be very hard Debs. This year I got to a point where I stopped praying cus somehow I felt like I had to pass through the fire to get what others just walked into the sunset to get. I shut out people who really cared about me and just decided to wallow in self pity.
Moving forward I realised how selfish and wrong that was.
On the bright side, I achieved a lot of goals this year, to-do lists where a total life saver. I kept track of everything and the satisfaction that came with ticking off finished tasks at the end of each day was just extra fuel.
One mistake I however made was spreading myself too thin and forgetting that focusing on my own wellness is the number productivity hack.
I enjoyed reading this and I completely agree!
Author
Thank you so much Rose for the feedback. Sometimes we even get lost in ourselves that the thought of being grateful becomes an illusion. But it’s very important that we count our blessings when we are happy and when we feel low.
I’m so glad you discovered yourself in 2018 and here’s to an amazing 2019 🥂
Hello Debbie, this was a very well minced post 💝. Reader friendly and helpful and specific and lovely. Well, my mantra as you outlined above is ”being grateful, keeping up on to-dos and the mental health thing” is very important because I am a proof of it significance. Another one is ”self development ” and lastly, the war between you and your desire to fit in, to prove to people and be accepted. The effort to find your peace, secure it and preserve it too. Living your life for what is best and healthy for you and not what people expect of it.
Wishing us all a blessed and joyous new year in God’s fold and grace and mercy and love forever.
Author
In every step of the way, it is very important to find your peace and live your life as it is best for you.
Once we can come to that point, irrespective of what people will say, we’ve won.
Thanks for sharing your mantra with us, Waiman. Cheers to a more blessed 2019.
Cheers 🎉🙌
Staying grateful is the truth debs. In whatever situation you find yourself, I have come to learn that being grateful is the ultimate truth. This post is so very insightful, and every point is definitely on track. Investing in myself is my mantra this new year, I find there is nothing better than investing in oneself, in every way, from health, to growth to goals.
Thanks for this debs.
Author
I’m so glad you found it so helpful, Salmah. Thanks for reading and I see you are staying so consistent on the blog. More creativity to come, hun