What’s your New Year’s resolution?

It’s that time of year again, when everyone wants to know what your New Year’s resolution is. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. There’s too much pressure around them. People think they need to set a big, lofty goal for the new year, but statistics show that fewer than 10% of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually keep them. 23% quit after the first week, and 64% give up by the end of January.

Instead of trying to set a New Year’s resolution that you probably won’t keep anyway, this year, think about the small steps you can take to move your goals forward or improve your practice. And if you want that feeling of accomplishment, here are 3 small, simple things you can do in the next few weeks to set yourself up for a great year.

1. Unsubscribe from email you no longer want or need.

A cluttered inbox means more time wasted during the day, and more chances that your important messages will fall through the cracks.  All of that holiday shopping you did online probably means that your inbox is cluttered with sales emails, but don’t limit your unsubscribing to just shopping emails. Get rid of unwanted newsletters or other subscriptions, too. If you don’t want to do it yourself manually, there are some tools out there that can help you unsubscribe in bulk https://clean.email/how-to-unsubscribe-from-emails/best-unsubscribe-apps.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile

When is the last time you took a really good look at your LinkedIn profile? In these days of increased online networking, your LinkedIn presence is more important than ever. The end of the year (or the beginning of a new one) is a great time to update your LinkedIn profile, especially if you haven’t done it in a while. Is your photo outdated? Do you need to update your headline? Did you write any articles or do any presentations this year that you want to add to your Profile? Get any new positions in your firm, your bar association, or other volunteer organizations?

3. Clear the clutter on your desk/in your office

I don’t know about you, but for me, clutter is a huge distraction. If my desk is messy, it’s hard for me to concentrate. Sometimes, when I have the most work to do, the best way for me to get things done is to take time out and clean up my office so I can concentrate on the work in front of me.

What small steps do you want to take this year? Let me know in the comments. And if you want to do more in-depth planning for the new year, check out my Planning Guide for Lawyers.

See more on productivity:

• Using Canva’s Bulk Create Feature
• How Posting Checklists Can Help Your Marketing
• How to Auto-Archive Email
• De-Clutter Your Email Inbox
• Publish Content Consistently with an Editorial Calendar
• 3 Things to Do For a Productive New Year
• 5 Tips for Improving Your Email Messages
• Improving Your Email Communication
• Delegating Tasks to Technology
• Do You Have Plans and Goals for the Future?