5 New Year’s Resolutions for the Workplace

Creating a New Year’s resolution is a long-standing tradition, often focused on a healthier lifestyle, and usually broken or forgotten about by March. We resolve to improve our personal lives, but rarely do we focus our attention on our professional lives. This year, rather than purchase another gym membership, consider taking on one of these five, relatively simple ideas to really make an impact in the workplace.

Create a Better Work-Life Balance

For many professionals, work is firmly nestled at the forefront of our minds. Answering emails over the weekend, letting countless vacation days go unused. Fully unplugging can seem like a daunting and unrealistic request. We often shudder at the thought of an important email going unaddressed, even for a few extra hours. We feel compelled to respond immediately and feel like we fail if we don’t. But much like achieving a weight loss goal, achieving a healthier work-life balance is possible, it just takes discipline. Set small, attainable goals to start, like setting your Out of Office Message on Friday and not opening your inbox until Monday morning. After a month of stress-free weekends, you’ll never want to go back.

Maintain a Positive Attitude

Attitude is everything. The way you carry yourself in the office can have a positive or negative effect on the people around you. Have you ever worked with someone who seemed like they constantly had a dark cloud looming overhead? Even the simplest interaction with this type of person can become taxing. Don’t be that person in 2018. Even when you’re feeling stressed and overworked, take the time to greet your coworkers in the morning. Smile when you pass someone in the hallway. These small gestures can make a big difference in office atmosphere and make you someone they want to work with.

Become More Involved

Your job should be more than just a means to a paycheck. Your work and your time spent at work should be fulfilling and engaging. Find ways you can get more involved around the office. Whether it’s participating in a potluck, joining a company book club, or creating a volunteer team to give back to your community, find something that interests you and adds more value to your professional life. If your company doesn’t already offer an opportunity for engagement, consider spearheading one of your own – with upper management’s approval. More engagement with the company will also help build stronger bonds with your coworkers. It will give you the opportunity to connect on a deeper level. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out you have a shared interest!

Grow Your Professional Network

Make 2018 the year you finally hit that 500+ connections goal on LinkedIn. Become a member of your local Chamber of Commerce and begin attending their networking events. Start building connections in your local community and then focus on building your network within your industry. Attend conferences and seminars to meet likeminded individuals. If you live near your alma mater, consider making an appearance at one of their networking events, too. You may run into an old professor or classmate that you lost contact with over the years. After you’ve made a face-to-face connection, follow it up with a request on LinkedIn and share your contact information.

Resolve to be More Tidy

A freshly cleaned workspace can do wonders for your productivity. Sort through your filing cabinets and recycle those documents you haven’t looked at in 15 years. If you don’t know what it is and you haven’t needed it in the last five years, chances are you won’t ever need it. Dust everything. Reorganize your bookshelves and desk drawers. Spray down your keyboard and get rid of last year’s food crumbs. Finish off by spraying a good disinfectant on your desktop. After you’ve finished the physical cleaning, it’s time to go virtual. Finally sort through your inbox and create folders to better access your important email threads. Clear out your deleted folder, too. Thousands of emails can stack up in your deleted folder, slowing your computer speed.

What are your professional New Year’s resolutions? Find us on social media or send us an email, we’d love to connect!

Article written by:

Devin Bond

Client Success Team Leader – Associations