5 ways to achieve 2021 New Year’s resolutions while you are at work

Don’t let your New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside as soon as you go back to work. Here’s how to achieve them – and on the boss’s time.

WORK can help many people achieve their New Year’s resolutions this year, rather than be a barrier.

Stressful projects, overtime or even just returning to a daily routine after holidays can quickly derail a worker’s best intentions to change their lifestyle.

But when incorporated into the job, common resolutions can be achieved – and on the boss’ time.

EXERCISE MORE

Many COVID-19 measures introduced in 2020, ranging from lockdowns to working from home measures, led to people reducing the amount of incidental exercise they complete during their day.

StriveStronger founder Andrew May says many of his clients have found they take up to 60 per cent fewer steps each day when they work from home.

Whether work life has returned to the office or is still at home, he says there are easy ways to introduce exercise into the day.

“A phone call is an opportunity to stand up and get some movement in,” he says.

“Try something other than just pacing.

“Slow-paced strength exercises will not have you puffing on the end of the phone but simply fire up the mitochondria to help you reoxygenate.”

He suggests completing a “phone circuit” – a 60-second wall sit, 20 lunges, 30 squats, 20 wall push-ups (one-handed or two-handed if using a headset), 30 bicep curls with hand weights (or replace with food cans or water bottles), and crab walks with loop band.

Exercise during conference calls to keep fitness-related New Year’s resolutions – although perhaps turn the camera off.

SAVE MONEY

With few employers offering pay rises to staff in 2020 and the outlook remaining grim for employees, many managers are offering perks instead to reward staff.

A Finder survey in September found the top perks workers would like their employer to provide in a post-COVID workplace.

Flexible working conditions tops the list, and can help workers save money on commuting and/or parking costs, drinks and meals during the day, or even the purchase of workwear.

However 19 per cent of workers want a free lunch provided, 15 per cent want a gym membership paid for and 19 per cent want their employer to fund professional development training.

Finder insurance specialist Taylor Blackburn says income protection (26 per cent) and life insurance (11 per cent) also make the list.

“If you aren’t able to negotiate a salary increase this year, additional perks like flexible working arrangements or increased annual leave are reasonable alternatives to fall back on,” Blackburn says.

“Transitioning to online work was a big hurdle for many workplaces during COVID, but many employees now realise that they prefer it.”

Working at home can help workers save money on commuting costs.

TAKE UP A HOBBY

Learning another language is one of the more popular hobbies that people have as a New Year’s resolution, and new research shows it can boost salaries.

Digital learning platform Preply has found the most lucrative languages to learn, based on analysing jobs that require another language to be spoken and/or understood.

Spanish ranked as the most profitable language in Australia, with the study citing trade between Australia, Spain and many Spanish-speaking Latin American companies growing steadily in recent years.

Spanish-speaking candidates can potentially earn $93,125 a year.

Polish ranks in second place with an earning potential of $89,044 a year, as trade relations between the two countries also is growing.

Dutch ($86,268), German ($85,949) and Japanese ($80,049) completed the top five list.

Chief executive Kirill Bigai says another language is not only a useful tool but an investment in their career.

“The benefits of learning a language are difficult to deny, offering improvements in the quality of work, health, and social life,” she says.

DO SOMETHING FOR CHARITY

Finding the time or the money to meaningfully help a charity can be tricky but many workplaces provide opportunities for their staff through corporate social responsibility programs.

Software platform GoodCompany has helped more than 80,000 donors donate $19 million in cash and 200,000 hours of volunteering across 1800 charities since it was founded in 2000.

It lists payroll giving, paid volunteer leave, matching donations, fundraising, sponsorship and staff rewards as ways organisations and employees are helping charities.

Its Top 40 Best Workplace to Give Back 2020 study finds the number of companies that offer paid volunteer leave increased from 87 per cent in 2018 to 94 per cent in 2020, with the average time entitlement also rising from 1.5 days to four days a year.

Chief executive Ash Rosshandler says in 2018, 17.5 per cent of companies in the survey offered uncapped matching for staff donations, and this year, it was 25 per cent.

“This year’s been a nightmare for Australian charities, with all fundraising events, fun runs, golf days, corporate volunteering events cancelled,” he says.

“Yet at the same time the demand for charities across the board, and especially those dealing with domestic violence, mental health and food security, is skyrocketing.

“So, it’s heartening to find that companies have not only held on, but have increased the capacity and opportunities for their staff to give back.”

QUIT A BAD HABIT

Everyone has bad days when they are not as productive, motivated, or focused as they may like to be, when they perhaps will procrastinate by indulging bad habits at work such as scrolling through social media, getting lost in the flood of emails or making the umpteenth coffee trip of the day.

TEDx speaker, life coach and author Jaemin Frazer says success is not about being on track 100 per cent of the time.

“In fact, the real aim of peak performance is to only be at your best when it matters most,” he says.

“When you enjoy your bad days without judgment, you take the pressure off having to get it right all the time.”

He says not to assess what was not achieved but what was completed in a broader time frame.

“Focusing on how little time you’ve got or how you’ve wasted it in the past only produces fear and shame and weakens us for the future,” he says.

“You can have all the time in the world, but if you’re in a poor state and feel unmotivated that time is useless.

“Your energy is far more useful than your time could ever be.”

Originally published as 5 ways to achieve 2021 New Year’s resolutions while you are at work