As Oprah once said, "Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." Here at College Hill, we're constantly self-evaluating and looking for ways to improve our processes and approaches, both personally and professionally. To kick off 2019, we came up with 10 realistic resolutions that all of us can implement at work.
1. Read something new everyday
While some of us get sucked into our smart phones on a daily basis, there are days where we have absolutely no idea what's going on in the world because we're so busy at work or at home. In 2019, we're making it a point to read at least one story or article a day, whether it's about a major current event or a silly entertainment piece. It's an excuse for us to learn something new - it can be as trivial as hair styling tips or as impactful as a political piece.
2. Take breaks
This year, we don't just want to go through the motions of taking a 15 or a lunch break - we want to take mental breaks, as well. Our goal is to take a break once every 90 minutes to stretch, breathe, listen to a song or just check out and retreat into ourselves. A good way to get your 8 glasses of water a day in is to have an hourly water break!
3. Learn new skills from our colleagues
We all have areas in which we excel and we can really learn things from the people around us. Instead of competing with your coworkers, focus on enhancing one another's personal and professional skill sets. Soak up as much information as you can from the person next to you and share your skills with them, as well. For instance, one of your teammates may be an Excel wizard. One may be the best graphic designer in town. One may be a great networker or public speaker. Schedule brown bag lunches where you can teach each other valuable skills.
4. Make smarter goals
HubSpot inspired us to make S.M.A.R.T. goals - goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time managed. For instance, instead of saying we're only going to eat healthy food and nothing else, we'll make a more measurable and realistic goal - we'll introduce vegetables and fruit into a minimum of one meal a day. This applies to work, as well - we may not invent a new process, but we can improve upon an existing one - and set a deadline to do so!
5. Treat yourself with kindness
We're going to be nicer to ourselves at work in 2019. We're going to get up and move around more. We're going to drink more water. We're going to listen to more music at the office. We're going to go to lunch together as a team more often. We may bring flowers to work for our desks. We'll be patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, too.
6. Clean out your digital drawers
We got pretty messy in 2018. Lots of unread and starred emails still linger. We have a slew of junk email we clicked out of, but never deleted. We have a lot of photos and files on our desktops in some hidden folders we never access. It's time to speed up our computers and clean up our inboxes so we can start the new year fresh. It is an investment of time to get cleaned up, but you'll feel like a new worker once it's done!
7. Follow a business podcast or blog
We're making it a point to listen to a new podcast or read a new blog that will help us enhance our careers. We're big fans of some NPR ones you can find here. Aim to read or listen to one new thing once a month to start!
8. Really tap into the work/life balance
This is easier said than done, but we're still working at hitting that work/life balance. It's OK if one trickles into the other, but we want to be better about leaving work for work and life for before and after work! Having these as separate entities will allow us to really put 100% of our focus into what we're doing and who we're with. It'll increase productivity at work and relaxation and adventure outside of work. One major step toward doing this is unplugging from technology outside of work whenever possible.
9. Organize your inbox
This goes along with #6 - getting our work inboxes organized! We're all about creating folders and setting up filters so everything has its place. When you know where to look, you cut down on a ton of time searching and create time to dive into your tasks at hand.
10. Attend at least one conference
Lifelong learning is of the utmost importance to us and our employees find a lot of value going to annual conferences related to their positions - marketing, customer service, sales, design and beyond. Even if there isn't a conference geared toward your specific job or position, there's something out there that relates to the type of work you do or some element of your company. Ask for opportunities to broaden your horizons, hone your existing skills or bring new ones back to the workplace. Whenever we return from conferences, we feel inspired and recharged. Why not kick off 2019 with that feeling?
What are your resolutions for 2019? Let us know! @ch_threads