By Chelsea Babin

You’ve gone through evaluations at work, self-evaluations, reflecting on the year, and a great holiday season and it’s almost time to take 2017 by storm! If you want to start the year off right, here are 10 simple things you can do the first week of this year to jumpstart your career performance, happiness, and goals for the New Year.

1. Break Your Big Goals Down: Having big goals and lofty dreams is a great thing but, if all of your resolutions and goals for 2017 are large, it’s time to break them down into smaller, actionable pieces so you know where to begin. Like a large project with a far away deadline, it can be easy to look at a huge goal in the future and think you don’t need to take action on it today. But, if you take time to break these goals down from your deadline into small daily or weekly steps, you’ll be able to make regular progress and eventually achieve your lofty dreams!

2. Get a Planner or a To-Do List: When you write something down you remember it better and that’s why you need to get yourself a dedicated notepad for your to-do list or a planner for the New Year. IT doesn’t have to be fancy but it does have to be something you remember to bring to work with you so that you can keep track of your responsibilities, deadlines, and the things you need to get done. When you have a bunch of new goals for the New Year it’s easy to forget one or two things you need to do but writing everything down can prevent that from happening.

3. Go for a Walk: Even if you didn’t include fitness goals in your resolutions this year, going for a walk during the first week of the year is a great idea. It may be cold where you live so find an indoor track, a mall, or even a large box store to walk around to help reenergize, refocus, and inspire you.

4. Start Your Side Project: You’ve got an idea for a side project and you’ve been meaning to start it for a while but you haven’t. You started a side project last year but it fell by the wayside when you got busy and now it’s gathering dust. The first week of the New Year signals new beginnings and one of those beginnings that will improve your skills and your career is starting up your side project!

5. Read a Book: Maybe you want to read an inspiring biography of someone whose life you admire or maybe you want to read a book on setting and keeping goals so you stick to your new years’ resolutions or maybe you just want to unwind in a world of fantasy as a way to recharge from your demanding work days. Whatever the case, starting the New Year off by reading a book will improve your mood, your cognitive function, and your habits. Keep the TV off for the week and get lost in a great book instead!

6. Sign Up for a Course or a Convention: There’s a skill you want to learn that will jumpstart your career performance so take some time this week to sign up for a relevant course or convention. It doesn’t have to start immediately, but signing up for these things now will help you stay obligated to your goal to learn something new or improve your career performance this year.

7. Schedule Some Alone Time: For most people the holiday season is filled with group events, get-togethers, parties, and other gatherings. This incredibly social time of year can be fun but it’s important to take a break from all of that and schedule some alone time during the beginning of the year. Whether that means taking yourself to a museum, eating alone at a restaurant, or just spending some time at home alone you need to relax, reflect, recharge, and get focused and alone time is a great tool for all of those things!

8. Create an Inspiring Workspace: Some people are inspired by clean, minimalistic desks while others want to be surrounded by their favorite pictures and tchotchkes. Figure out which kind of workspace inspires you and adjust yours to reflect your personal tastes. This will help you enjoy your work more, stay productive, and get your work performance off to a great start during the first week of the year. Plus, if you do it now, you’ll only have to maintain it throughout the year to keep it a happy, inspiring place to spend at least 40 hours a week.

9. Show Up Early: If you’re in the habit of showing up to work late it’s time to finally break out of that bad pattern! Set your alarm clock earlier, prepare what you need the night before, and don’t use traffic as an excuse. Getting to work early every day makes a great impression but, if that’s not enough motivation for you, just remember that almost everyone in your office will be trying to start the new year off on the right foot and they’ll all be showing up early so it will be much more noticeable if you’re the only one who arrives late.

10. Stay Rested: After a fairly exhausting holiday season it’s easy to start the New Year exhausted. On the night of January 1^st and every night for at least a week after, get to bed early and make sure you’re getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep every night. This will help refresh you from the holiday season, help you stay motivated with your newly minted goals, and help you feel happier and productive during your first workweek of the year.

Jumpstart 2017 in a positive way and do these 10 simple things. You’ll start the year off right and set patterns and healthy habits to continue throughout the New Year that will benefit your career performance, happiness, productivity, and more!