New Year's resolutions you should make based on science -- and how to keep them

Health

In their book “Peak Performance: Elevate your Game, Avoid Burnout and Thrive with the New Science of Success”, published this year, performance experts Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness wrote that most people who want to be more productive at work should learn to take breaks.

In the short term, that means when your energy is running low you should get up and go for a walk or do something else to really give your mind a rest. In the longer term, if it’s possible, research indicates you might be best off setting yourself up to work fewer hours every week.

And if you want to better yourself, resolve to start reading regularly

There’s psychological evidence that reading – perhaps especially literary fiction – can make it easier to empathise with others or to imagine other lives in the world.

Luminaries of the tech and finance worlds like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffettagree, often attributing much of their success to regular reading habits.

And reading is simply fun, a great way to pass the time and take a little break from the internet-connected world.

Pick a goal – a book a month or one per week, depending on what you normally read. Create or join a book club if the added motivation of chatting with friends (and snacks and drinks) will ensure you remember to turn the pages. Enjoy.

Finally, if your resolution in the New Year is to be happier, resolve to make choices that will give you more time to enjoy life, family, and friends

It can seem like we all have a million tasks to complete and needs to meet, leaving little time for relaxation. And while it’s important to meet our necessities, there’s a significant amount of psychological research that indicates that people who have more time and who make decisions that prioritise time over money are happier.

In one recent study published in the summer of 2017, people found that spending money on a time-saving purchase instead of an item provided a small but significant happiness boost. That corresponds with a growing body of existing research.

In a 2017 TED Talk, psychologist Adam Alter explained one of the reasons we feel like we have so little free time these days. We spend many of precious free minutes flicking through our smartphones, absorbed in the minutae of the internet but not engaged in anything longer lasting. Give yourself your free time back – and use it to cook a meal, get in a workout, or do some reading. It will be one step towards a better 2018.