Achieve your goal for 2015

We love the start of a new year. It’s the perfect time to get organized, refocus energy, and start fresh. And if your team is like ours, you’re determined to make 2015 your best year yet.

With this zeal for the new year, we often create a list of work resolutions that we fully intend to achieve, but unfortunately rarely accomplish. We resolve to do too many things or too vague of a thing, or we forget that we resolved to do anything at all.

Make this year different. Create a work goal (let’s not jinx ourselves with the word “resolution”) for 2015 and actually stick with it, using these 5 suggestions.

1. Focus on one goal at a time

One reason why New Year’s resolutions can be hard to achieve is because we simply set too many, often with the expectation that we’ll work towards them simultaneously.

This year, start with just one goal—maybe the one that you think is most important, challenging, or exciting—and focus on it. This will make your plans for 2015 feel more manageable, and bring you closer to actually achieving a concrete goal this year.

2. Write it down, then dive into the details

Goals that exist only in your mind are easy to forget, and vague ones are hard to accomplish. Whether you’re hoping to publish some writing, mentor a teammate, or build a new webpage, be sure to document your goal and its purpose. Flag any challenges you might encounter while working towards it, then fast-forward to the end of 2015 and imagine what success will look like.

Asana Tips

Create a task to help you keep track of your goal. Then, add a detailed task description to clarify what you hope to achieve.

3. Break it down

This step is often overlooked, but one of the most important. While setting your work goal, think about the first few actions you can take to help you realize it. When you have an idea of what the next step is, you’re much more likely to take it, and ultimately achieve what you’ve set out to do.

Asana Tips

It’s easy to break down your goal by adding subtasks. This way your goal, description, and the steps to get you there are in one place.

4. Set due dates as reminders

While we start the year excited about our professional goals, it’s easy to overlook them as the year progresses and we become entrenched in the day-to-day of our work. Mere awareness of your intention plays a big role in whether you actually achieve it.

Asana Tips

Set your task’s due date 3-6 months from now or make it recurring, so that you can be reminded of your goal throughout the year. Our 2014 year-in-review can help you with this. Just enter your goal and we’ll create a task for you with the due date set for June 30, 2015.

5. Hold yourself accountable, with the help of a teammate

Resolutions and goals are often easy to let go because there’s no accountability for getting them done. Try sharing your plans for 2015 with a teammate who can offer support. You’re more likely to stick with a plan when you make a public commitment.

Asana Tips

Getting a teammate involved is as simple as adding them as a follower to your task. Just let them know in advance that you’re requesting their help.

No matter what you want to accomplish this year, we’re here to help you create a plan and make it happen. Let’s start by taking the first step together