3 New Years Resolutions You'll Want to Make - And Keep
It's that time again -- the new year means new goals and resolutions. Are you looking for a resolution that will stick longer than last year's vow to visit the gym every day? We've come up with three that can have a big impact!
1. Maximize Your Productivity
Could you benefit from being more productive in your job, or those projects that piled up over the last year? These four tips can help you overcome a slump in productivity more quickly—or even eliminate it altogether in the coming year:
- If you are a procrastinator who always gets things done in the days before a deadline—even if it’s assigned a month in advance—then start giving yourself shorter deadlines. Need something finished in two weeks? Give yourself a deadline of one week.
- Always try and fit in those two-minute tasks whenever you can—whether it’s checking email, cleaning your desktop or approving requests. Checking these two-minute tasks off of your to-do list will make it easier to start the next big assignment.
- After working for a certain amount of time, give yourself a break. For example, if you’ve just been planning a training session for 90 minutes, allow yourself 10 minutes to recharge for the next 90 minutes of work.
- Pay attention to the time of day when you can focus the most, and then schedule your most important tasks each day in that time slot.
2. Set Your Savings Goals
This year, turn your financial focus toward improving your savings. In addition to your retirement account, experts recommend having three to six months of expenses saved in case of an emergency. Not quite there? Use these tips to start saving more:
- Put together a monthly budget, with income, bills and other expenses. Set a monthly savings goal and trim expenses as needed in order to hit that goal.
- Once your budget is set, pay yourself first. Have money automatically withdrawn from your checking account and put into your savings or an investment each month.
- Using coupons, choosing regular instead of premium gas, drinking tap water instead of bottled and comparison shopping are simple ways to spend less each month.
- When you get “free” money such as gifts, tax returns and bonuses, put it into your savings.
- If you're struggling to hit your spending and savings goals, revisit your budget to find other areas where you can cut expenses.
3. Get to Know Your Insurance Policies
With ever-fluctuating home values, are you confident your homeowners insurance policy limits are enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your home, should the unexpected happen? Are you appropriately covered if you are in an accident with an uninsured, or under-insured driver? Who is responsible if you have a loss to any of your insured property?
- Read your policy to determine what exactly it covers and who is responsible if a loss occurs.
- Create or update your Home Inventory, noting your high-value items, and ensure you have enough coverage in the event of a fire or flood.
- Call your Agent to set up an annual review and discuss any questions you have, new valuables obtained over the holidays, or life changes in the last year.
Don’t play the guessing game. Contact Marshall & Sterling for assistance on determining the value of your property. We can work together to create a policy that will protect your family or your business. We are ready to help and are just a phone call away!