From Resolutions to reality: Making a difference in your work style

As clichéd as it may sound, with the dawn of every new year, most of us resolute about something or the other and try to pursue it throughout the year. While striving to fulfill these resolutions, we may fail or succeed, however, the underlying importance of having resolutions and working towards these lies in our desire to bring some improvement or change in ourselves.

Therefore, as we welcome yet another year, let’s take a look at the checklist of some simple yet effective work-related resolutions to make this year more fun, productive and worthwhile.

Learn, learn and learn: You may be excelling at your work but still make it a point to learn something new this year- it may be any new work related skill, or some new technology which you are struggling with.

Read more: Make sure that you finish at least five good books related to your work or leadership in general by the end of the year. You may also choose to read an autobiography of a leader whom you admire.

NO to procrastination: No ‘ifs and buts’ and ‘will do it tomorrow’- respect commitments and finish your work on time.

Make a ‘To do’ checklist: Enlisting your ‘to dos’ and checking their progress intermittently will keep you on track throughout the day

NO to gossiping: Don’t indulge yourself in gossips and grapevines, it will simply suck your precious, productive hours and will lead you nowhere!

Say ‘Yes’ to ‘No’: Prioritise your work-related commitments and chalk out your action plans accordingly. Don’t just give-in to every work related demands rather weigh what are some of the most critical commitments to be achieved and what are deadlines.

Saying ‘No’ doesn’t mean upsetting others- you may give genuine rationale for saying no or you may delegate the work to someone else who knows the work and is less occupied than you.

Remove distractions: Limit your usage of social media (of course non-work related) during office hours. Also, avoid unnecessary chatters at work! You can save plenty of your time by keeping such distractions at bay.

Build more collaborative relationships at work: Extend your help and support to your colleagues when it is needed. Build and grow your networks and stay in touch with your old colleagues and friends.

Kill that Stress: Getting stressed at work is unavoidable however there are plenty of ways to keep the stress at minimum- some of the many ways include meditation, good communication, short breaks and exercise.

Enjoy your work: Probably the most important resolution one can make is to enjoy what one is doing. Look for positives in your work and constantly think of ways to make it more fun and enjoying for you.

Yes, it is always easier said than done but with a little perseverance, patience and practice, it is indeed possible to convert at least some of these resolutions into reality! So, get set and go! Have a fantastic 2017 people!

Organisational Culture

From Resolutions to reality: Making a difference in your work style

Author