2018 is here, and the time to get back to work is nigh.
Often, we take time to reflect on the previous year and figure out what we want to do to make the new year greater than before. Even more often, we’re returning from vacation wishing, honestly, that it would never end!
But, we at Saraval Industries think that what is key to making your 2018 a great one is creating a new perspective for yourself.
Here are ten suggestions for how you can make 2018 a year of making yourself anew, from jazzing up the office space to focusing on personal wellness. Tell us what you’re doing to energize your new year!
1. Get to the Gym!
Coming back from vacation usually means looking back at great meals, great friends, and some badly needed rest and relaxation. Now, you most likely have several months of snow and cold, but that doesn’t mean you should let your health suffer!
Hitting the gym, even once a week, is a great way to foster total-body health, especially when you work in an office. Some people can commit to a full-time regimen, but follow-through is everything for new changes you want to make in the new year. Given the drop-dead prices of gym memberships these days, even going once a week—and most importantly, committing to it—will bring in incredible benefits for your physical health, mood, and potentially a new pastime!
2. Jazz up your Office Space
If you’re working a regular nine-to-five job, that means the space you work in is where you spend many of your waking hours throughout the week. This is a great spot to bring some of the memories you made during vacation into your workspace.
We think this is incredibly important for maintaining a positive outlook as you come back to work. New pictures, stories, and mementos from your vacation are great conversation pieces around the office. The more you’re able to interact with your co-workers, the better your overall work environment will be.
3. New Setup
Have you ever noticed how a new painting can really bring life to a room? We think the same applies to workspaces—one of the biggest investments to overall health in 2018 could be a new standing desk or a new workspace setup.
Changing things up stimulates the mind, which means those many hours spent in the office could bring new meaning to your workday. Along with the health benefits from standing desks—and considering all the calories we all probably took in during our vacation—this could be a life-changer.
4. Commit to Reading
One of the most popular New Year resolutions is reading more often. If anybody asks themselves how much they read in 2017, it will often fall far below where it should be. Choose a subject you want to become more well-versed in or start making a list of books you’ve always wanted to read, and get at it!
A useful way to get started on a new literary journey is to take a look at websites which offer reading lists. One really great one we’re looking forward to is from PopSugar—47 books that are planned to become movies or television shows in 2018. Or, choose a subject, such as social justice, and dive into some informative recommended reading.
5. Yoga!
Mindfulness is an incredibly important part of overall mental health, and one of the best ways to get there is to start doing yoga.
Yoga is an age-old practice combining steady movements and poses with relaxing breathing exercises that can have a miraculous impact on physical and mental health. In most places around the world, yoga studios are available to sign up for, even for just once a week.
For the more frugal mindfulness explorer, there are tons of videos on YouTube that can get you started. Hop on over and take a look!
6. Learn a New Skill
Albert Einstein famously said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” Whether for professional development or for your own personal advancement, deciding on learning a new skill is a great way to jumpstart your brain after returning from a relaxing vacation.
There are tons of resources out there to learn new skills. For instance, you can take free language classes with the app Duolingo, making it easy to learn the language of your choice through their patented technology and methods. Or, perhaps start on a journey of learning code with Code Academy, a freemium website that develops lesson plans for all types of code including simplistic Python and HTML, to more advanced coding languages such as C+ and Java.
7. Journaling
Keeping a journal is a great way to become more reflective in your everyday life. Many find the practice therapeutic, and sometimes becoming more creative is an added bonus side-effect of writing down your thoughts.
As the holidays are always a time filled with emotional experiences (do you have that crazy aunt that always makes a scene too?) and fun times, starting to keep a journal might be a great way to become more reflective and, oftentimes, more mindful throughout the day.
8. Financial Planning
Most of us have dropped tons of money over the holidays. From buying presents during the December holidays to celebrating with champagne on New Year’s Eve, it’s not that far-fetched that the wallet is feeling a bit thin after coming back from vacation.
This would be a great time to reassess your financial goals. Many people start savings accounts and develop more integrated budgets around this time as they look forward to the new year. Developing honest financial goals, and committing to making them happen, is a great way to put you on better financial footing by the time 2018 comes to a close.
9. Reach Out
For the new year, take stock of the people in your life you may have lost contact with. While the holidays are filled with opportunities to see accessible friends and family, take some time to look back at previous connections—either friends who moved away or distant family—and re-establish dialogue.
Rekindling old friendships often gives us a new perspective on our current self. Coming back from vacation, take some time to think about why you drifted away, and whether it might be worth it to reach out.
10. Cut, Clean, Clear
New year, new you! Whether it’s the closet that’s overflowing with worthless junk, or you feel like you may need a lifestyle or social circle reboot, 2018 could be your year to make your move. Even though it’s just another day, it’s easy to imagine that the clock striking midnight on the new year is in many ways cathartic and rejuvenating.
Sometimes, it’s healthy to reflect on the relationships you have with other people or to take stock of what’s truly important in your home. Decluttering your living space and your life is a way to make life more simple, stress-free, and enjoyable.
What have you done for the new year to make it a great one after coming back from vacation? Let us know!
Image source: pixabay.com