Every January, everyone makes the same resolutions. Eat better. Exercise more. Read more books.
And by February most of us are curled up on a couch eating biscuits right out of the box while binging Netflix.
Since people spend about two-thirds of their time at work (probably more if you own a business), why don’t we start with some work-life New Year’s resolutions? They’re a lot easier to keep. And when your work life is running smoother, you might find the time and energy for those books and that trip to the gym.
Work Resolutions for 2022
1. Reduce stress. Yep, we’re starting with the hard one. If you think we might as well have said, “Find a pot of gold,” or “Buy a time machine,” just bear with us and keep reading.
When you’re stressed, you get flooded with icky, panicky hormones that want you to fight or flee. They shout down the part of your brain that comes up with amazing ideas and pump up your reactive survival instincts. Over the long term, stress can actually shrink your brain, affect your memory, and wear down your heart.
It makes your life both shorter and less enjoyable.
You can’t control all the stressors in your life. That driver who sits through the green light while he’s chatting on the phone, the coffee that spilled on your favorite white shirt, the note from daycare saying the flu’s going round.
But you can control how you react. You can try stress-busting activities like journaling, meditation, or exercise. You can trim the fat from your daily planner and log off at the same time each day, preserving your evenings for things that bring you joy.
To make this time for yourself, you might have to give up a teensy, tiny bit of control. Look at your to-do list. Are you truly the ONLY one who could handle every task? You’d be amazed how much easier it is to relax after you’ve delegated time-sucking activities and freed yourself up for more important things.
2. Budget better. Surprises are fun when they involve parties, presents, or engagement rings. Not so much when it involves opening your monthly bank statement.
“Surprise! You forgot to tally Mary’s spending spree at the office supply store! And that invoice you were counting on because ‘the cheque’s in the mail’? It hasn’t been paid!”
Make 2022 the year you get on top of your bookkeeping. Without accurate, up-to-date numbers, it’s all too easy to overspend or even to lose money on jobs. To keep your business financially healthy, you have to understand what you have coming in, what you have going out, and who hasn’t paid you.
Bookkeeping may be a drag, but stop putting it off until the end of the month or later. It’s a lot harder to remember what you bought three weeks ago than three days ago. Make a resolution to update your books at least once a week, to budget expenses, and to compare your budget to actual every month. There are plenty of systems, tools, and professionals who can help you stay on top of things so it’s really pretty painless.
3. Grow your business. Economies are expanding around the world. The economy in our home country of Australia is expected to grow almost 5% in 2022. Why wouldn’t you want to get in on that? Plan on capturing some of that growth to take your business to the next level.
Like they say, a goal without a plan is just a wish. So instead of resolving to “make more money,” resolve to make it easier for your sales team to do their job.
How? Here are a few suggestions:
Update landing pages, presentations, or other marketing materials to help move prospects past objections and get to the close
Implement a CRM that automatically tracks customer contacts like emails and phone calls to reduce the amount of time the team spends manually entering data
Assign a sales assistant to handle time-sucking little hassles like updating the pipeline, writing quotes, and making travel arrangements
Invest in sales coaching
Ask the team what they need to be more productive
Listen, we know the last couple of years have thrown us curves that sounded like something out of a crazy soap opera plot.
But you persevered. You’ve got a handle on this. 2022 is the year it all comes together. We feel it for you.
