What You Should Do For a Brand New Year

When a new year approaching, besides counting down, what will you do?

My personal experience tells me that a well-planned year is very important to keep me focus on my targets and milestones. Besides, I will have a clearer direction of my progression and I could have plenty of time to prepare for foreseeable events in the year. Therefore, I did the following simple steps to make my coming year more organised.

1. Get a diary

During my company Christmas gift exchange event, I requested a management diary in my wishlist. Each year, I keep a diary which will keep all my important dates, reminders, goals, ideas and plannings. To avoid clutter and hassle, I centralized all important information into this diary. Not only avoiding mis-located jot down, I could browse through my notes and expand my ideas anytime.

Diary can be obtained easily as most of the companies give out diary as compliment, or you can get a decent one in bookstore.

2. Mark important dates

Before starting my year, I would mark all important dates into my new diary. This will include birthday, anniversary and important dates such as wedding invitation or house warming invitation. Next, I would also incorporate Malaysia's Public Holiday into my diary (not required if the diary has already built in). As I would like to travel around next year, I quickly screen through suitable time to take a long break. Doing this can help plan for my holiday earlier and secure cheaper airfares. Then, I would assign as much annual leaves as predictable. This is to ensure I have allocated my annual leaves evenly throughout the year and to avoid burning my leaves.

3. Set out the new year resolutions

This might sound old school to you, but it keeps my head clear from distractions. By setting my goals earlier, I can foresee and plan to achieve these goals throughout the year. I usually set up my resolutions in many aspects, health, finance, career, family, relationships etc.. These resolutions are what I would like to improve this year. Before that, i will have a brief review on what I have achieved in 2014. This would help me in setting more realistic goals.

4. Set out annual budget

Though it is important to get your life organised, financial aspect is equally important too! You might not know if you are changing a job or not, but set an achievable budget based on your best knowledge of your progression. Would you have some large expenditure next year? Set some financial goals too to keep you motivated. For example, saving money for emergency funds, education funds or buying first property, etc. 

Keep your New Year holiday busy by planning ahead to ensure a smooth and prosperous coming year.

[Tip 1] Keep your diary with you wherever you go so that you can write down important things inside. It is very good for organizing and catching random ideas too. Since you might need to carry it for a long time, opt for a medium size and avoid heavy diary.

[Tip 2] Set your resolutions as realistic as possible. Also, include a quantifiable elements to enhance their practicality. For example, instead of "doing more exercise", write down "Three 8-minutes workout every week". Also, aim for small and gradual changes for sustainable goals.

[Tip 3] If your financial goals involve saving for a fund, set up an account now! You can open an account in another bank with no atm card. It shall reduce your temptation to use the money. Besides, you will be greatly motivated when you see the number grows.