Take one step at a time in the New Year

“I have decided to shed 15 kg weight this year. Come what may, this is going to happen,” said Ritesh, who met me at a party and kept himself to salads. This incident happened on 20th December. Yesterday, Ritesh was eating at a restaurant. His plate was full of food as if there was no tomorrow. What happened to the resolution? Though I did not ask him, I knew the reason. Most people fall flat on New Year goals. So much so that now it is a joke talking about them. 

What goes wrong? It is a simple thing actually. Most people commit themselves to new goals without even making space for them in routine. And to do that, one has to let go of old routine up to an extent; consciously take out old activities and make place for new ones to come in. It is also important to r that one cannot overhaul everything in one go. 

Let's take a pause and see what can be done to change the routine and accomplish new goals. There are three streams to look at. Being busy, being efficient and being effective. The difference between effective and efficient is simple though. Being effective will get your work accomplished with expected results in time. Being efficient will mean getting results with minimum time and resources with results in time. It's time for our paper and pen exercise now.

Look at all your existing commitments: Does your work keep compiling? The sense of priority and work allocation as per human hours and capacity is missing at many workplaces. Can you look at all the work at hand and segregate it under urgent and important matrix. You can google Eisenhower Matrix for guidance. Now, the biggest leap of faith comes in. You are not the decision-maker for leaving or letting go of any project but putting everything in matrix gives you clarity of talking to seniors and trust me, it does work.

Minimise verbal connect: I remember, fifteen years ago many organisations used to emphasise on employee networking and them interacting at work. “Walk down to meet personally instead of writing an email. That will improve personal connect.” This was writing on the wall at a leading automobile manufacturing's plant. Today, this might be the biggest hindrance to the grid of time management. Write emails, text and call, but go to meet only if needed. Concentrate on your work and think about how to finish it effectively in eight hours. With many organisations having a multi-city presence, it is more likely to have virtual colleagues. MavenVista is an IT solutions organisation which reduced employee work meeting hours by half. People gave efficient and implementable suggestions and being on time became a habit with quick outcomes. 

Cut down on social media: Today's social media is a mixed metaphor. It enriches knowledge on various topics but also hinders attention and wastes time. There is a syndrome called “Too Much Information”. People on various social sites are doling out info constantly. Just ask yourself how much browsing videos of DIY arts and cooking or looking at holiday pictures of other people helps you. I am not asking you to be anti-social media in any way. Just fix an hour's time for various platforms and stop getting distracted.

One at a time: As far as new goals are concerned, easy does it. That means, put one step after the another. Take one goal, let it continue and take next only after a comfortable pace of the first one has settled in. Pushing yourself to achieve everything in one go will never work. Going slow yet steady is the way for progressing every day.

The last and very important thing to remember is, progress on goals is very person-specific. The year has just begun and you might step back on a few resolutions in times to come. Do not beat yourself for not achieving 100%. No one actually is. Change is a constant process and in the journey of a year, some goals might shift. You need to be aligned with the cause of achievement, that's all. 

The writer is strategic investment advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing