tips....tips...tips....

Chances are, at some time in your life, you've made a New Year's Resolution -- and then broken it. This year, stop the cycle of resolving to make change, but then not following through. If your resolution is to take better care of yourself and get your inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) under control, you'll have a much better year if your resolution sticks. Here are some tips to help get you started.

Be realistic

The surest way to fall short of your goal is to make your goal unattainable. For instance, resolving to never eat your favourite food again because it bothers your IBD could be a bad choice. Strive for a goal that is attainable, such as avoiding it more often than you do now.

 

Plan ahead

Don't make your resolution on New Year's Eve. If you wait until the last minute, it will be based on your mindset that particular day. Instead, it should be planned well before December 31 arrives.

Outline your plan

Decide how you will deal with the temptation to skip that exercise class or have one more cigarette. This could include calling on a friend for help, practicing positive thinking and self-talk, or reminding yourself how your bad habit affects your IBD.

Make a "pro" and "con" list

It may help to see a list of items on paper to keep your motivation strong. Develop this list over time, and ask others to contribute to it. Keep your list with you and refer to it when you need help keeping your resolve.

Talk about it

Don't keep your resolution a secret. Tell friends and family members who will be there to support your resolve to change yourself for the better or improve your health. The best case scenario is to find yourself a buddy who shares your New Year's resolution and motivate each other.

Reward yourself

This doesn't mean that you can eat an entire box of chocolates if your resolution is to diet. Instead, celebrate your success by treating yourself to something that you enjoy that does not contradict your resolution. If you've been sticking to your promise to eat better, for example, perhaps your reward could be going to a movie with a friend.

Track your progress

Keep track of each small success you make toward reaching your larger goal. Short-term goals are easier to keep, and small accomplishments will help keep you motivated. Instead of focusing on losing 30 pounds, say, focus on losing that first 5. Keeping a food diary or a symptom journal may help you stay on track.

Don't beat yourself up

Obsessing over the occasional slip won't help you achieve your goal. Do the best you can each day, and take each day one at a time.

Stick to it

Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity, such as exercising, to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your personality. Your new healthful habits will become second-nature in no time.

Keep trying

If your resolution has totally run out of steam by mid-February, don't despair. Start over again! There's no reason you can't make a "New Year's resolution" any time of year.

Fast Facts About New Year's Resolutions

63% of people say they are keeping their resolutions after two months

67% of people make three or more resolutions

Top four resolutions:

Increase exercise

Be more conscientious about work or school

Develop better eating habits

Stop smoking, drinking, or using drugs (including caffeine)

People make more resolutions to start a new habit than to break an old one.

 

Perhaps you have a heavy workload and want to find ways to become more effective so you can get more done in less time.

Maybe you feel overwhelmed or “stressed out” and want to find ways to do less and enjoy more. Or maybe you simply want to feel more focused and in control of your time, instead of feeling like you rush madly from one activity to the next until you fall into bed exhausted every night.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff that life is made of.”

Time management is a set of principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems working together to help you get more value out of your time with the aim of improving the quality of your life.

The important point is that time management is not necessarily about getting lots of stuff done, because much more important than that is making sure that you are working on the right things, the things that truly need to be done.

Smart time managers know that there is much more to do than anyone could possibly accomplish. So instead of trying to do it all, smart time managers are very picky about how they spend their time.

They choose to focus and spend their time doing a few vital projects that will really make a difference, rather than spending all their time doing many trivial things that don't really matter all that much.

If you become a good time manager, you’ll not only get a lot more done in less time, but you’ll feel more relaxed, focused and in control of your life.

You’ll be able to use your time in a much more balanced and effective way, and you’ll be able to make time for the people and activities that you love. When you get to the end of a busy day, you’ll feel a strong sense of accomplishment from everything that you actually got done.

Improving your time management skills can even help you get better results by doing less work, because you're focusing on the things that really matter rather than all the low-priority busywork that just keeps you busy.

If you don’t learn how to manage your time well, you’ll be far less productive than you could be and you’ll get a lot less done. You’ll also feel much more stressed and overwhelmed, and you’ll struggle to find time to spend with the people you care about and to do the things you enjoy.

In the end, time management comes down to choices. Good choices lead to better results, while poor choices lead to wasted time and energy.

The good news is that time management skills can be learned and mastered by anyone. All it takes is practice and dedication.

Like any other skill, you can learn time management the easy way or you can learn it the hard way.

The hard way usually involves years of trial and error and lots of false starts trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

If you'd like to save yourself some time, money and effort, I recommend you try the easy way: learn from someone who has already done it.

Makes sense, right?

15 Time Management Tips

In the meantime, here are 15 practical time management tips to help you get started...

1. Write things down

A common time management mistake is to try to use your memory to keep track of too many details leading to information overload. Using a to-do list to write things down is a great way to take control of your projects and tasks and keep yourself organised.

2. Prioritise your list

Prioritising your to-do list helps you focus and spend more of your time on the things that really matter to you. Rate your tasks into categories using the ABCD prioritisation system described in the time management course.

3. Plan your week

Spend some time at the beginning of each week to plan your schedule. Taking the extra time to do this will help increase your productivity and balance your important long-term projects with your more urgent tasks. All you need is fifteen to thirty minutes each week for your planning session.

4. Carry a notebook

You never know when you are going to have a great idea or brilliant insight. Carry a small notebook with you wherever you go so you can capture your thoughts. If you wait too long to write them down you could forget. Another option is to use a digital recorder.

5. Learn to say no

Many people become overloaded with too much work because they overcommit; they say yes when they really should be saying no. Learn to say no to low priority requests and you will free up time to spend on things that are more important.

6. Think before acting

How many times have you said yes to something you later regretted? Before committing to a new task, stop to think about it before you give your answer. This will prevent you from taking on too much work.

7. Continuously improve yourself

Make time in your schedule to learn new things and develop your natural talents and abilities. For example, you could take a class, attend a training program, or read a book. Continuously improving your knowledge and skills increases your marketability, can help boost your career, and is the most reliable path to financial independence.

8. Think about what you are giving up to do your regular activities

It is a good idea to evaluate regularly how you are spending your time. In some cases, the best thing you can do is to stop doing an activity that is no longer serving you so you can spend the time doing something more valuable. Consider what you are giving up in order to maintain your current activities.

9. Use a time management system

Using a time management system can help you keep track of everything that you need to do, organize and prioritise your work, and develop sound plans to complete it. An integrated system is like glue that holds all the best time management practices together.

10. Identify bad habits

Make a list of bad habits that are stealing your time, sabotaging your goals, and blocking your success. After you do, work on them one at a time and systematically eliminate them from your life. Remember that the easiest way to eliminate a bad habit, it to replace it with a better habit.

11. Don’t do other people’s work

Are you in the habit of doing other people’s work because or a ‘hero’ mentality? Doing this takes up time that you may not have. Instead, focus on your own projects and goals, learn to delegate effectively, and teach others how to do their own work.

12. Keep a goal journal

Schedule time to set and evaluate your goals. Start a journal and write down your progress for each goal. Go through your goal journal each week to make sure you are on the right track.

Keeping a journal on your computer has never been easier!

13. Don’t be a perfectionist

Some tasks don’t require your best effort. Sending a short email to a colleague, for example, shouldn’t take any more than a few minutes. Learn to distinguish between tasks that deserve to be done excellently and tasks that just need to be done.

14. Beware of “filler” tasks

When you have a to-do list filled with important tasks, be careful not to get distracted by “filler” tasks. Things such as organising your bookcase or filing papers can wait until you tackle the items that have the highest priority.

15. Avoid “efficiency traps”

Being efficient doesn’t necessarily mean that you are being productive. Avoid taking on tasks that you can do with efficiency that don’t need to be done at all. Just because you are busy and getting things done doesn’t mean you are actually accomplishing anything significant.