Stick To Your New Year's Resolution: The Automated Way

This is it. This will be the year. The year where you stick to your New Year’s Resolution… right?!

Well, not if historical statistics have anything to say about it. According to a study from the Statistic Brain Research Institute, only an average of 46% of people are still adhering to their resolution by the middle of the year. Other sources put the Success Rate as low as 8% by the end of the year… not good! However, this year will be different! This time, you will be armed with some tips to make your New Year’s Resolutions more automated and easier to accomplish!

It is also important to remember that these tips are merely tools to be added to your automation utility belt. Success will require commitment and drive, but we hope these tips make it just a little easier for you to stick to your new year’s resolution.

Exercise/Weight Loss

Exercise is probably the top resolution for many people, and it certainly is ours this year too! The tips in this section focus on working out, but be sure to look below for information about healthy eating, which is equally important when trying to lose weight.

If you aim to start attending the gym, try going to bed with your gym clothes on. When you wake up, you need only to roll out of bed, brush your teeth, and head to the gym. You’d be surprised how much easier it feels to drag yourself to the gym those first few times.
Regular gym attendance too time consuming? No problem! High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) might be a better fit for you. This style of exercise is aimed at taking up the least amount of time and delivering maximum benefit. Learn more here.
Sitting at a desk all day? Try using a Stability Ball to get some extra Ab exercise throughout the day.
Still sitting at that desk ? If your hands are not always occupied while at your desk, consider keeping a small weight on your desk and do a few curls periodically. It might not seem like a lot, but a few here, and a few there… it all adds up, and helps promote your overall workout ethic!
Should you find yourself in front of your TV for a Nextflix binge session (which you probably shouldn’t do, and go to the gym instead), then consider getting yourself an Ab Twister Board. It’s so mindless if you’re watching TV that you’ll finish up an episode only to realize you were working out the whole time!

Eating Healthy

Diet – everyone’s favorite four letter word. It’s just the word ‘die’ with a t and the end… because that’s how we feel when we are on one, right? Well not this year! These tips should make managing any diet and healthy lifestyle a bit easier.

Start eating healthier by ensuring bad food doesn’t enter the house. One easy way to accomplish this is with a Grocery Delivery Service. By not being in the store, you’re less likely to impulse buy all the bad things you keep walking past. And the best part? You’ll save well over an hour of time, which will make our next tip even easier! Check out delivery services like AmazonFresh, Instacart, PeaPod, or Shipt!
Meal prep. You’ve probably heard this a thousand times, so here it is again. Not only does this help you save time and money, but if you’ve already prepared a weeks worth of healthy food, then you’re far more likely to eat it. No more excuses for picking up Taco Bell on your way home from work!
All of this sounds great, but what if you aren’t much of a chef, or need some culinary inspiration? Try out some of the amazing meal delivery services! These companies will deliver everything you need to create a gourmet, and most importantly, healthy, meal right to your doorstep. I recommend starting with some of these meals to get get your feet wet and acquire the necessary skills, then eventually lessen your use of them to save more money. Check out HelloFresh, Sun Basket, or Plated to get started!

Improve Your Well-being

This is probably the most important topic on this list, and easily the most overlooked. We all too often put everything ahead of ourselves in life, and sacrifice our own well-being in the process. The key to this section is to make more time for yourself by reducing the time spent on useless things.

I’m just going to call it out right now – you probably spend too much time on your phone on pointless stuff. Our phones are a key part of living a more automated life, but sometimes we use them in excess for purposes that don’t bring value to our lives. It’s time to stick to your new year’s resolution and take steps to reducing your time on your phone, and make more time for you. Read more about this in our article here.
Plan dedicated “me” time in your schedule every week. Stick to it like a work shift. Don’t call in with a flat tire either… show up on time, and spend more time on you.
Find one obligation (or more!) that you can either eliminate, delegate, or automate. Never touch this task again, and spend the additional time on yourself.
Keep connected with us here at GetAutomated. We constantly strive to find ways to automate the mundane and free up more time and hope to continue to help you along the way. Yay, shameless self-promotion!

Investing and Saving

Do you know the best time to start investing? No, it’s not today. It’s yesterday. Time is the most powerful force for making your money grow and the sooner you can start investing, the more money you will gain! While we highly encourage you to seek out a certified Financial Adviser to build out a full strategy, here are a few tips to help you automatically put money aside for your future:

All too often, we forget to put money into our (virtual) piggy bank. Check your banking App/Website, as most of them should support automated transfers. Set a date and amount to automatically move to savings. Funding your savings is much easier when it happens on its own. This will help you curb spending habits to account for the transfer each month.
If you aren’t already doing so, consider enrolling in your employer’s 401k program and taking advantage of the company match. This allows your investments to be pulled each month, and your company to automatically put in the same amount. Seek out your company’s HR department for further guidance.
Start investing using one of the apps we discuss in our full article here.

Learn a New Skill

The key to learning any new skill is simple: you have to consistently dedicate time to it. Our focus here will be around establishing a routine, and finding more time for you to free up and learn that new skill!

The first step is to simply dedicate a time block each day and/or week. Mark it off on you calendar, and treat it like a work shift. Always attend, and don’t call in! Many skills can be picked up with as little as 15 minutes per day. For example, check out our guide on how to learn to code with a simple Automated Routine here.
Just as we discussed in our section above for Personal Well-being, one of the easiest ways to regain time is to reduce your cell phone use. We all do it, so check out our article for tips on how to reduce your time spent here.
If you’re too attached to your phone to give up time on it, then consider finding skills that you can learn from an App. There are many incredible learning apps for nearly anything you can think of.
Audiobooks – I can’t emphasize enough how incredible audiobooks are and how much can be learned from them. The best part? You can listen to them while doing other things, like working out at the gym, or commuting to work. If you haven’t yet, invest in yourself and try out Audible from Amazon here, and start reading today!
Join a community for a skill you’re trying to learn. You’re not the only one out there trying to pick up cool new skills, and being connected with others will help you learn, keep you motivated, and stick to your new year’s resolution!

Stop Smoking

This is probably the most difficult topic on the list. Cigarette addiction is one of the hardest things to kick, but we hope a few of these tips below might be something new to try to help you cope, and ultimately stop smoking.

Find an external reason to quit. It’s not just enough to say you want to quit. You need purpose. Let this purpose be a driving force and a constant reminder to continue your fight to quit.
Use the Quitter’s Circle App and the SmokeFreeTXT service which both provide daily tips and encouragement.
Join a support community. You’re not alone in trying to quit. Some people find it really helpful to have partners to help provide inspiration and help hold them accountable.
Speak to your doctor for prescription-grade solutions. These will often be the heavy hitters that provide the greatest addiction assistance.
Supplement your routine with some of the various nicotine products such as gum, lozenges, and patches.