How to hit the ground running in 2020

1 LIST YOUR GOALS

Determine what you want to achieve in 2020 before you walk through the front door of your workplace so that you know what to tackle when you return to work in the new year. This could be short-term career goals to work towards over the year or simply tasks you want to check off the to-do list in January. Prioritise the goals in order of importance or ease to achieve.

2 DEAL WITH EMAILS

No matter if you have been away from the inbox for a weekend or for several weeks, there is bound to be a pile-up of emails. Avoid the temptation to “ease back into work” by going through all the unread mail. Spend a maximum of 10 minutes addressing urgent emails or those sent that morning then turn to other matters. Move the unread mail out of the inbox into a designated folder to attend to later in the day or the week.

3 AVOID OFFICE GOSSIP

Similarly, avoid getting into lengthy conversations over the water cooler with co-workers about their holidays or New Year’s Eve festivities. Politely asking “How was your holiday?” can help maintain rapport between you and others but launching into a description of the Christmas presents you had to return and why or a play-by-play outline of how the days were spent at the beach will only cause further procrastination.

4 HOLD A TEAM MEETING

Again, avoid discussing the holiday period but get together to suggest ideas and brainstorm for the month or year ahead. A break from work often gives staff a fresh perspective and many will have thought of good ideas during their down time. A team meeting also can be a casual way of working and ensures staff are not left to their own devices to procrastinate. It does not have to be the manager who organises the meeting any worker can gather their colleagues or make the suggestion to the appropriate organiser.

5 SET REMINDERS

It can be easy to get distracted from work or have your attention diverted elsewhere but setting reminders to the task at hand or goals will help you keep yourself on track. Whether it is a calendar-generated alarm to get jobs done on the first day back or a calendar note which appears several months into the year, a visual reminder will keep your goals and tasks at the front of your mind.

6 GET ON THE PHONE

Setting up appointments, meetings and presentations on the first day back to work does not take much thought, can ensure you get in to see people first and will set up your workload for the rest of the week, month or year. It also will prove to others in your company, field or network that you are not wasting time to get moving in the new year.

7 DON’T MAKE IT YOUR RESOLUTION

Unless you are good at keeping to your resolutions, don’t wake up tomorrow with the promise to hit the ground running. Most resolutions are broken within the first few days of being made. Book the above activities into your schedule as if they are an appointment to be kept and you will hit the ground running.