If 2023 was the year you’ve been running around like a headless chicken, have been constantly wishing for more time and thought “Thank God this year is over”, then it’s time for some new year resolution ideas to turn 2024 around.
Make the effort to set some time away for yourself to think about what you really want from 2024. Then make a promise to yourself to do something about it for real this year.
Below are a few new year resolution ideas for the overwhelmed, with a special focus on boundaries. These will help you to take back control, have more time and build your confidence.
Saying No
Most of us are people pleasers. We’re scared to say no because we don’t want to disappoint or hurt anyone. That’s what we keep on telling ourselves anyways. But we’re also scared to face backlash and negative situations, because let’s face it, no one likes an argument.
But being a people pleaser is hurting you big time. If you say yes all the time, to for instance working overtime, your manager is going to expect from you to take on extra work and work late all the time. Simply because that’s what you always do and always have done.
Saying no to people is not going to make anyone think less of you. This year, one of your new year resolution ideas should be to set the appropriate boundaries at work and in your personal life so people know what to expect from you and say no more often.
Managing Expectations
One of the most important lessons I learned in 2023 was to manage other people’s expectations. Plus, giving myself a little buffer when it comes to working on and completing projects for work.
Let me explain this with an example.
When you always spend the evening with your husband watching TV, but now want to spend more time reading books for personal development, you might get some backlash from your partner.
For weeks or months you’ve been spending the evenings together and watching TV together. That was your thing as a couple. Perhaps you’ve always watched the news and then a particular TV show. You basically have established a routine. Now you want to change that routine, which means you’re also going to effect his routine. Your partner is going to experience some change, which he might not like necessarily.
This is actually one of my real life scenarios I went through. I found that the best way to handle a situation like this is to explain why you want to change some things. This is how you manage expectations. You tell and inform the other party in advance so they are able to understand and prepare for the change.
Asking for Help
When you’re running around at 100 miles an hour, it’s hard to keep it all together. Some of us have a meltdown, others cry and others start shouting at their co-workers and friends. I once punched a wall when I lost it and screamed at my colleague. I felt so overwhelmed at that time that I just sort of exploded so to speak. Not one of my finest moments I have to say, but I learned my lesson.
And that was to ask for and also accept help. I always wanted to do everything on my own. I thought this would show and proof that I’m able and capable to do my job. Along with people pleasing this was a deadly combination and didn’t end well.
Asking for help is not a weakness. It absolutely is a sign of strength and can foster team building, trust and better relationships.
Asking for help is great option for when you’re feeling overwhelmed and like a busy bee. It will help you to engage people around you, get results faster and most importantly helps to lift some of that work load. Win, win. Are you going to make asking for help one of your new year resolution ideas?
Delegation
The art of delegation is to be able to ask for help and support by letting go of certain tasks and assigning them to someone else. But of course this is harder said than done.
We often have difficulties asking for help from others and letting go of tasks. Some reasons for this are because we don’t want to be a burden to others, don’t want to seem weak or useless, think we can do it better or faster or we assume they might be too busy help.
No matter what your reason might be, don’t be afraid to delegate and loop in other people.
You can ask your husband to cook dinner. Delegate that task to him for once and perhaps loop in the kids to set the dinner table. All of a sudden you’ve got at least 30 min back of your precious time that you can use to freshen up by taking a nice hot long shower.
And don’t be afraid to ask one of your colleagues at work, if they could lend you a hand. Delegate one of your tasks to them such as following up on that quote you’ve been asking for. After all, you and your colleagues are all part of a team.
Prioritisation
When you’ve got a million things going on, I know it’s difficult to decide what needs to get done, what should be done and what must be done. Because at first glance, everything seems super important, but here’s the thing. It rarely is.
Prioritisation is all about deciding what tasks are urgent and important. Basically what tasks must get done now and which can be either postponed to another day or week, delegated or even better deleted all together.
If you’ve got a few new year resolution ideas, this should definitely be one to add.
So, have a sit down and look at your task list and be honest. What tasks are urgent and important that have a deadline or consequences if you don’t do them? What tasks can be pushed back to take the stress of you in the moment, delegated to someone else (ask for help) or even better deleted?
Taking Deep Breaths
When you’re overwhelmed and starting to freak out because of your workload, deadlines and no time, taking a few deep breaths can do wonders.
It’s such an easy, simple and quick exercise. Everyone can and in my opinion should add this to their new year resolution ideas list. Here’s why.
Taking deep breaths helps to calm down the nervous system. Also, it allows you to take a step back from the situation. As a result, you start to calm down a little and get to see a situation more clearly and for what it is. Often, things seem worse than they are.
When you’re stressing out, take a few minutes out of your busy day to take some deep breaths and just concentrate and think about your breathing. When your mind wonders of, just catch yourself and concentrate on your breathing again.
This takes your mind of your worries for a few minutes and let’s you re-examine them from a better state of mind.
Shifting Perspective
And the last of my new year resolution ideas for the overwhelmed is to shift your perspective.
It’s easy to dwell on the negative, to constantly wish things were different. However, the truth is complaining doesn’t really help. It doesn’t address the problem you’re facing. Sure, you might feel a bit better venting and getting your frustration out, but you’re not getting any closer to fixing what’s bothering you or causing you a lot of stress and anxiety.
Instead of thinking about all the things that are going wrong, that are not working for you and which you wish were different, ask yourself what you can change.
What can you do to address and overcome your problem?
If you’ve got a huge workload and are fearing not meeting your deadline for your project, tell your manager and ask if the due date could be moved by one or two days. Or ask a colleague to see if they could lend you a hand if they’ve got some extra time.
Instead of focusing on the problem, focus on the solution.
This is actually one of my new year resolution ideas from last year – shifting perspective and being more solution orientated.
Make 2024 the year you set and implement boundaries. Pick one or a few of these new year resolution ideas and try them out, see how they work for you.
They key is to start small, but most importantly make a start and take action.
Here’s to a great and new year!
If you found this post on New Year Resolution Ideas For The Overwhelmed helpful, you might enjoy reading my post Easy Tips To Increase Productivity To Get More Done In Less Time.
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