We all know that setting self-improvement goals in January is arbitrary. Nothing magical happens when the calendar flips to a new year. And yet, the idea that you can change habits or improve your circumstances is alluring. Which is why around 40% of people still set resolutions in January, even though only about 9% end up making the change they promised.
If you’re like me and like to use the new year as a time to think of ways to improve your life both inside and outside of work, here are eight ways to do it:
Improve your attention span
There’s just so much standing in our way of getting things done. If you feel your attention span has shrunk over the past few years, it probably has.
According to researchers, in 2003, our attention spans were generally around 2.5 minutes, which might sound like an eternity to you because between 2016 and 2019, it dropped to around 47 seconds.
Try this method to improve your attention span at work: Set a timer for 20 minutes, turn off all notifications, and listen to classical music. The timer will keep you from toggling over to other things. Music is a proven benefit to focus for many people, not only to drown out background sounds, but also to cover the silence that can make your mind more prone to wander.
Why classical music? Music with lyrics is more likely to distract you and have you singing along. A study conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine found that listening to classical music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions, and making memories.
Get over imposter syndrome
Imposter syndrome, the feeling that you’re a fraud and secretly aren’t qualified for your position, is so common that some experts estimate around 80% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives. So, basically everyone.
If you feel like you aren’t good enough, it’s useful the have the written proof of all the times people have told you that you are. Keeping a “praise file” is tried-and-true career advice that is helpful in a variety of situations, but comes in especially handy in overcoming imposter syndrome. Create a document on your computer desktop titled “Praise,” and collect the nice things colleagues, managers, and clients have said about you and your work. Then if you’re having a bad day or doubting yourself, open it up and remind yourself how great you are.
Become less negative
The human brain is hardwired to prioritize negative experiences as a matter of survival. This explains why we often remember and think more about insults rather than remembering compliments, or dwell on unpleasant or traumatic events more than pleasant ones. In fact, our brain’s negativity bias is so strong that even if a bunch of good things happen in a day, your brain will focus on the one bad thing.
If you’re looking to focus on the negative a bit less, here’s what worked for contributor Shawn Casemore when he changed his mindset from pessimism to optimism:
Flip concerns about risks to a positive question. “What’s the worst that can happen?” becomes, “What are the best possible outcomes?”
Share your optimistic view with others. “When we repeat things out loud, we override the little green negative person who is on our shoulder whispering pessimistic views in our ear,” he says.
Surround yourself with optimistic people and news. He also suggests challenging negative comments and viewpoints when you encounter them.
Get paid more
You have the most leverage to ask for more money when you’re starting a new job since if they are offering you the role, you know they want you. But if you’ve done excellent work, you have leverage, too, because even in a tight economy, the cost of replacing a good employee is more than the cost of giving someone a raise. So know that you are likely coming from a place of strength.
The next step is to approach the conversation as a collaboration instead of a power struggle. Try statements like “I would love to understand what the opportunity is to get closer to this salary,” or “What is the flexibility in your salary range for this role?”
Those statements open up the conversation, rather than shutting it down with a simple yes or no.
And if you do get a no, try setting expectations on a time frame to get to a yes by agreeing on benchmarks that you can reach and check back on in three to six months.
Be happier
This is the biggest resolution, because if you’re happy, the rest is just gravy. But it’s also the most nebulous. There’s no magic answer to finding happiness, but one way to start to be happier is to address regret and be more compassionate with yourself.
Ruminating about a mistake or a wrong choice is a surefire way to nurture unhappiness. Regret can become a habit, says Dinorah Nieves, author of Love You: 12 Ways to Be Who You Love & Love Who You Are. But you can dilute feelings of regret, she says, “if you can instead reframe the decisions you made—looking at why you made them and learning from them—and treat yourself with compassion.”
You can also reframe things by treating yourself like you would treat a friend or colleague who came to you with a problem. We often speak to ourselves in a much harsher and more judgmental way than we speak to others.
Get a promotion
There are a lot of variables, like timing and budget, that go into getting a promotion. So make sure you are starting the conversation at the right time. Once you think it’s the best time to ask, here are a couple things to consider:
Make a clear and compelling case. Yes, you want a promotion because you want more money and a better title and it’s good for your career—those reasons are implied. Don’t say them. Instead frame it as how the title change already reflects the work you are doing. That means that you’re working above your job description. You don’t get a promotion for being good at your current job, you get a promotion for exceeding expectations. After you remind your boss what you are already doing, you next need to explain how you will further help the company in a new role. Frame it as a win-win for everyone.
But whatever you do, don’t use it as a bargaining chip; if you say you’ll leave if you don’t get a promotion, at best it will sour your relationship with your manager, and at worst they will call your bluff.
Get more sleep
Hustle culture may have glorified running on a few hours of sleep, but if you’re feeling tired all the time or have trouble falling asleep, you know that skimping on sleep makes everything worse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has linked sleep deprivation to health issues like heart disease, obesity, and depression.
If you have trouble getting to sleep at a decent hour, sleep specialist Michael Breus recommends a staged process to help you fall asleep at the same time every night. The 20-minute stages help you wind you down, rather than expecting your body to go from “on” to “off” instantly. He advises spending 20 minutes wrapping up last-minute tasks for the next day (packing lunches, making your schedule, laying out your clothes), 20 minutes for your nightly hygiene routine, and then 20 minutes doing a relaxing, mindful activity like meditation or reading.
Improve your memory
If you want to remember the important stuff that happens this year, the simplest way is to write it down, preferably by hand. Several scientific studies have found that taking notes on a laptop isn’t as effective for retaining the information as writing notes by hand. Part of the reason is that you have to slow down to focus when writing by hand, but there are two other ways writing things down will help your memory.
At work: If you take notes by hand in a meeting, you’ll likely listen more closely to what’s being said. Because you can’t write as fast as you type, you’ll be forced to use some form of shorthand, which means when you read your notes later, you will have clues to remember the conversation and fill in the blanks.
Outside of work: As part of your end-of-day wind down, try the One Line A Day journal method. The idea is similar; you aren’t writing a whole page or even a whole paragraph—just one to two sentences about what happened that day. When you distill your day down like this, those little daily details can be enough to jog your memory of days that would otherwise be forgotten.
