6 Tips To Stay Productive in 2022

Now that Christmas is over, January is looked at as the next best thing. For many of us, it is a fresh start, a do-over or even a time to revisit failed resolutions from the previous year by thinking- What did I do wrong? And how can I get better? 

In some African homes, yearly resolutions come from what others tell you about yourself and what they will like changed. For instance; growing up, my mum made my siblings and I write down our new year resolutions. It was such a big deal that she would gather us in the parlor and make us do it as she watched(mostly because she wanted us to do more dishes) but you know, just hovering around. As a result, I never really liked the experience and that spilled into not liking writing down my new year resolutions as I got older. However, I find that over the years I have had a few new years resolutions without even trying. For instance, one of my resolutions this year is to take care of myself first before doing so for others and it is quite funny to me as I never recognised that putting these thoughts in my head and out to the world is my version of having a new year resolution. Only difference is, I haven’t written any of it down.

On the other hand, some millennials practice a form of resolution called manifestation. Manifestation is a form of attracting something tangible into your life through positive thoughts and sometimes chants… I’m told it works like magic. So when you hear someone mumbeling “I am kind and well-deserving of everything good in 2022” under their breath, you know what it is about. With many practices of seeing January as a new beginning, it begs me to question, are new year resolutions still a thing? Or are they old traditions that have been killed because we were forced to practice them or maybe we just grew up? From my experience and others around me, I believe that new year resolutions are still alive and well. And of course they continue to take different forms and names, it is important that we recognise what they are in order to walk the course and stay productive.

New year resolutions are thoughts, wishes and visions you have for yourself. They are simply changes you want to see within yourself at the end of a certain year…but then how do we stay in check with all of these wishes? How do we make sure we stay productive in 2022 and not fail at it? Here are a few tips to staying productive that we are adopting at Chinakwe and we hope you do so too:

1. Be Real With Yourself

As good as it sounds to have big words on paper, are these things really aligned with who you are as a person? Being real with yourself in your 2022 new year resolution requires only knowing who you are and not being ashamed or afraid of it. For instance; I have identified that I need to be kinder to people so one of my new year resolutions is ‘be kind’. So knowing who you are makes your target easier to achieve.

2. Write It Down

My literature teacher in high school would always say “a short hand is better than good memory”. It is always good to feel so pumped each till we cross over to a new year, we get filled with dreams and hope of all the good things we are about to achieve but realistically we lose our way in the third month. But do you know one sure way to always remember what you want for yourself? That’s right, writing it down. You could never go wrong with a pen and paper, they are always a reminder of where we used to be. Okay now, I know some of you may be thinking, I don’t want to have papers laying around but you could do so in a notepad or even by using one on your phone(title it: GOLD’S NEW YEAR RESOLUTION 2022) and pin it to the top, that way you will always see it.

3. Have A Vision Board

Vision boards are always fun to create so why not right? Remember the qualities you envisioned yourself having at the end of the year? How about putting some images on it to help you visualize what that life looks like.

4. Timing

Now whilst I acknowledge that we have talked about looking back at the end of the year to know how far you’ve come, I think it is best to work with a time that best suits you. For me, I always do a quarterly check on my progress so for your year to be more productive how about trying checking in with yourself every week or month.

5. Track Your Progress

I learnt a habit from my partner last year and it is writing down high moments in my life on a monthly basis. It is so easy to stay focused on achieving your goals that you miss out on the other wins you have gotten. So why don’t you pull out that same note pad and create a space to track your wins and progress. Always take a moment to appreciate how far you’ve come and it’s going to fuel your journey

6. Manifest That Life

I’m not sure how you may have lived your life till now but since we are on the topic of being productive and having resolutions, how about you try some positive manifestations. First, you have to believe that the life you want is yours and then start saying it to yourself…because once you believe it every other thing starts falling in place.

Quote of the day

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

- Malala Yousafzai - 

For an exercise, I would like you to think about two things you would love to achieve in 2022. Now think about the qualities of the person you see having these things. Are they flamboyant? Do they read novels, poems or watch documentaries?Are they kind and helpful? Write them all down and finally, what qualities or skills do you need to adopt in order to be exactly this person you just described. And that is it, you have your new year resolution.

We hope you enjoyed this post and found these tips helpful. Here’s to wishing you a year full of fun and achievements. Cheers to 2022.

Useful Links:

How to make a vision board - https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-to-make-a-vision-board