January has been proven to be the busiest time of the year for fitness and productivity tool industries. Funny how for the last 365 days, not so many people think of starting a healthy diet or practicing a proven productivity method to get things done. However, in the first day of the New Year, people around the world are beginning to reflect on the past year and start making resolutions hoping to achieve all of their dreams this year.

The common problem with New Year’s resolutions is that it’s always easier said than done. You are determined to buy your first house by the end of this year, you swear with your friends that your favorite jeans will come off a bit easier in the next three months, you promise yourself that your credit card installment will be settled by July… whatever the case, after a few months into the New Year, you might realize, in your mind, everything tends to work out for the best and you always win, but somehow it doesn’t look that way in real life.

To prepare for this year's resolutions, you started to google “What are the easiest New Year’s resolutions to keep?” or “Top 10 New Year’s resolutions” or “How to stop failing and stick to New Year’s resolutions?”. You wonder what you could possibly have done wrong in the past. The good news is, you are not alone. Research shows that 60 percent of us make New Year’s resolutions while only 8 percent can actually achieve them. Probably in the last several years, the odds just aren’t in your favor.

Well, 2020 should be different as it marks a brand new decade. We want to kickstart a decade with a clean slate. Instead of keep making general resolutions as “losing weight” or “saving up”, we will tell you some awesome easy New Year’s resolutions that are not too difficult to keep for you to be more productive in 2020.

1. Stay committed to your to-do list

It’s already 20 years into the 2000s, stop being a hoarder and trying to be Superman. Don’t keep adding up on your to-do list and by the end of the day, your own list will discourage you from achieving your goal. People tend to fall into the blue funk when they think there’s no point in moving on with the to-do list while there is so much left to do.

Everyone wants to move mountains, but you have to start small in order to achieve a big dream. Years ago, we have proposed you should abandon your to-do list since we realized a to-do list no longer serves its original purpose when the number of tasks is large enough to render them equally important. You shouldn’t have a plain list, use a hierarchical to-do list instead to break down your goal into digestible tasks.

Take time to step back and evaluate your current to-do list. If there are more than 10 tasks for your everyday, chances are you might give up on your own list in the next couple weeks. Stay minimal when it comes to setting up a new goal. You have to work on your goal constantly, just like Rome wasn’t built in one day.

2. Treat yourself better and say no to stress

Everyone is obsessed with the fast-paced life, “make more money, it’s better to cry in a Ferrari than on a public bus” - they said. After all of the extra hours you are putting in at work hoping for a better paycheck by the end of the month, you might as well ask yourself if everything is worth the stress.

It’s not always just your body, sometimes your mind breaks as well. You are always on the race to complete as many tasks as possible. Your happiness seems to depend on your quarterly KPI. In 2020, be your own hero by starting to take care of your mental health and put yourself first.

One of the favorite tricks from famous entrepreneurs to achieve higher productivity at work is that you can start your day with a simple task and accelerate from there. Try not to think of a big goal that might stress you out, just pick up some routine tasks to ease yourself into the process. Keep yourself happy instead of busy.

3. Keep a journal and count your blessings

If you always feel doomed and unhappy with your life, whining about it won’t make any difference. You cannot sit still and expect life to eventually make sense one day just like some of the best-selling self-help books write. There’s something called “personal growing process” and it means you need to give yourself some time to grow and achieve your goals.

Keeping a journal can help you reflect on yourself and see how much you’ve changed and improved. You don’t have to write a whole 1000-word essay for your journal entry. Keep it short and straight-to-the-point. Just write some short entries everyday even when that day is uneventful and plain. The point is to jot down a couple of thoughts and things that happened and how you might feel about it.

If you are not fond of writing, taking photos and put them into an organized list can also do the trick. Your to-do list doesn’t have to be a real to-do list, be creative and use the task as a daily journal entry. After a while, you can revisit your journal and realize even when you don’t think you made any progress, everything actually has changed and you’re no longer standing in your original spot anymore.

4. Do something different at least once a month

Boredom can not only kill your joy but also kill your productivity. But a lot of people are hesitant of changes. The problem is when thinking about changes, everyone thinks of something huge, like moving across the country or learn how to skydiving. You can get excited for a couple of days (or weeks!) but soon after the honeymoon phase is over, welcome back to the loop of hell!

Instead of breaking your routine all at once, start with some small details: try to take another road on the way home from work, dine in a new opening restaurant nearby, wear a colorful shirt to work instead of suits and ties, etc. Happiness can come from small details that sometimes go unnoticed.

5. Stick to the resolutions even if you fail several times before

There is no particular reason when it comes to the reason why people tend to keep failing their resolutions. Life happens and your busy schedule gets in the way. A lot of people sign up for a fitness program and after accidentally skip the cardio class once or twice, they start to give up for good. If you don’t want to start over, don’t quit. But even if you quit several times, starting over seems better than doing nothing.

Whatever in your New Year’s resolution list, just start right now for your trial period. Don’t procrastinate and wait until January 1, 2020 to start going to the gym or opening a saving account. Who cares if you binge over the holiday break or miss a few leg days, just stick to your diet whenever you can. Train your mind to be committed to your ultimate goal and your resolutions’ list.

Every December the internet will be flooded with thousands of articles to tell you how to keep your New Year’s resolutions and you will keep telling yourself this year would be different. Most New Year’s resolutions will be broken during the first month. We hope you are strong enough to force yourself to stick to your goals through March at least, then you will notice it is easier to keep this resolution when it becomes a habit.

No matter what resolution is on your list this year, we hope you will achieve your dreams in 2020.