The end of the year is traditionally the perfect time to make plans for the coming year. The most popular New Year’s resolutions are health and fitness related, such as working out more, quitting smoking, eating healthier meals, taking up meditation, etc.
Then there are some who have a different approach to New Year’s resolutions, making them not only about improving themselves, but their families (“being a better father”), their communities (“volunteering once a month”), or their work (“being a better manager”).
Deciding to improve your performance at work can actually help you with all your other resolutions because any change you make in your life will be more effective if it exists within a framework that encourages and enhances its impact.
Consider the classic New Year’s resolution: getting fit. The reason why people often fail at achieving this goal is because they only change one aspect of their lifestyle, which in this case it usually is just going to the gym more. But the rest of their reality doesn’t really fit with the new habit they are trying to form and so it is slowly but surely rejected.
So here are a few ideas for you to consider when thinking about your New Year’s resolutions.
Keeping a clean inbox
This might feel like a monumental task but a clean inbox leads to a clear mind. And really what is hard about this task is the first time you sit down and get it done. Afterward it is just a matter of setting up a system where you take time at least once a week and do some maintenance work. There are great resources online to help you take on this job.
Being more organized
Organizing your time better is an easy way to improve your efficiency at work. Just by allocating adequate time slots for each task ensures that you are wasting less time. Being more organized also includes scheduling your appointments more effectively and efficiently.
This is a task that is best delegated to an assistant that can take and schedule appointments for you and add them straight to your calendar. Hiring a virtual receptionist takes care of this for you while keeping your costs low.
Don’t be distracted by your smartphone
Being connected all the time is a double-edged sword and at the office your smartphone may actually be doing you more harm than good. So, make a resolution to keep your smartphone stored during work hours. There are also many apps that can help you with this by keeping your phone blocked or just allowing you to use certain functions only.
Learn something new
Most people make a resolution to learn a new language or maybe to learn how to play an instrument, but how about learning something new that is related to your work, company, or industry.
This new knowledge will help you be more creative at your job, which in turn will enable you to find unexpected solutions to issues that come up. Some ideas are taking a course on strategic thinking, learning about how to become a better leader, or get more familiar with your company’s products, services, and processes.
Improving your customer service
When it comes down to it, improving your customer service means being there for your customers every single time they choose to contact you. This is another task that is best delegated to a customer service representative since it requires their full attention at all times. Failing to answer your customer’s calls will inevitably lead to them feeling that you don’t care about them, which will lead to frustration and in time they will stop being your customers completely never to return again.
Instead of hiring and training a customer service representative, a better option is to hire a live receptionist service. This service can be easily set up to deliver world class customer service that is tailored specifically to your needs.
Being more focused
Although distractions in the workplace are inevitable, this next year make it a point to take action against those distractions that can be helped. In this category you can definitely find spam calls and robocalls. To avoid these pesky disturbers of the peace you can enlist the help of a live receptionist service. They will act as your first line of defense against spam calls while allowing the important calls to go through. This will help you focus on your job and will definitely reduce your frustration levels, since you won’t have to waste your time dealing with a spam or robocall again.
Here’s to a successful and Happy New Year!