It’s Time to Plan Your Work for 2023.
The inevitable passage of time has once again brought us to the closing of the year and the existential crisis that ensues. While many folks take this time to make resolutions about losing weight and becoming better people, why not take a few moments while wrapping gifts and decorating your abode to reflect on your professional work and how you can change?
One of the most basic and effective ways to review your past year is with a simple ‘pros and cons’ analysis. Essentially, you just identify what worked and what didn’t work; then create a plan to keep doing what worked, and eliminating or replacing what didn’t work. Obviously, this is a simplified way of analyzing what is often an intricate environment of difficult problems, however it is a great way to get your brain thinking about these problems in a straightforward manner. For example, perhaps your work really ramped up with the lifting of COVID restrictions and now you’re feeling quite burnt out; clearly this detrimental pace is not working. Now is a good time to evaluate how much time and effort you’re putting into certain tasks at work; and perhaps you’ll realize that instead of busting your butt to expand your business for the sake of expansion, you should focus on what is actually giving you a positive ROI and eliminating ventures that are simply wasting your time and effort. Keep the pros, cut the cons.
One of the most basic and effective ways to review your past year is with a simple ‘pros and cons’ analysis.
Take the Economy Into Consideration
Another key part to reviewing this past year and changing for the New Year is looking at the economic landscape ahead. While the economy is never a certain bet, most people would agree that our current landscape is especially volatile. And with many expecting a recession within the next 12-18 months, pondering the consequences of such an event and preparing for it should be included in any professional New Year’s resolution. Not only can the economy as a whole be affected, the work models for the common employee will continue to change. Will you work from home or will your company mandate you come back to the office? Or perhaps your company will adopt a “hot-desking” model or a flexible hybrid model. If you’re a small business owner and/or employer yourself, this coming year may be the time to ditch the conventional office, save some rent money, and adopt a more modern work environment; or perhaps the exact opposite is a better fit for you and you want to get your team back in the office where they can bond as a unit. Either way your future lies, the key is to have a plan, prepare the best you can, and be flexible along the way; all of which starts with thinking it over.
After You Plan Your Work, It’s Time to Work Your Plan.
While changing COVID restrictions and a potential recession may affect global oil prices, currency exchange rates, and grain production, how you and your company decide to change will affect your daily life, from the money in your pocket and the food on your table, to how you spend your time away from, getting to, and at work. So it might not be a bad idea to spend a couple minutes pondering it all. And if you’re in the Santa Barbara area looking for a way to properly kickstart your New Year and formulate the right resolution for your goals, come check out the in-person workshop we’re hosting at Workzones this January.
