How to have a fulfilling 2016

The new year is finally here. It may have crept up on you and you may feel like the previous year went by too fast, and that it didn’t give you a chance to do the things you wanted to.PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Get yourself one of those detailed diaries that double up as yearly planners and that can fit easily in your bag. The ones with pages for budgets and spending are usually the best because you are able to note down everything you spend.

  • It helps because you do not have to buy all sorts of separate books to write things.

The new year is finally here. It may have crept up on you and you may feel like the previous year went by too fast, and that it didn’t give you a chance to do the things you wanted to. If you are not happy about how things were last year, now is a good time

to reflect and to plan to do things differently. Resolutions and deadlines notwithstanding, it pays to have a solid plan for how you want things to pan out in the next 12 months.

This time around, you need to use your time wisely and maximise your chances of success. It pays to know what exactly you will be doing and when exactly you will be doing it, so that nothing catches you by surprise. Here are some tips to help you make your plans:

1. Buy a detailed diary

Get yourself one of those detailed diaries that double up as yearly planners and that can fit easily in your bag. The ones with pages for budgets and spending are usually the best because you are able to note down everything you spend.

It helps because you do not have to buy all sorts of separate books to write things.

2. Write down things to do

Having a to-do list makes things much easier and more organised. It will also minimise your chances of forgetting and neglecting your duties. You can note down all the things you want to do in general this year and then try and break them down into daily,

weekly, monthly, tasks and sub-tasks. Every morning, make a list of what you need done the whole day in the following order of priority: Urgent, important and necessary.

3. Make month-by-month plans

Make monthly plans up to three months ahead of time. For instance, by this time, you should have made your plans and goals from now up to March. Although you should leave room to accommodate changes, having plans and goals will make it faster and

easier to achieve success. At the end of the year you can sit down and evaluate how much you managed to achieve.

4. Crucial phone calls and appointments

If you have good proposals, write them down and book presentation appointments. The sooner you do this, the better you will know where you stand so that if particular plans do not work out, you may move on to the next ones.

Persist in your endeavours without letting up so that by this time next year, you may look back with satisfaction.