Clickbait title. 

WAIT DON'T LEAVE.

Let me rephrase that: stop waiting for the new year to make a resolution.

I know some people are really good at meeting their New Year's resolutions, but I'm not. So if you're like me, read on. If you're not... uh...

Here's why New Year's Resolutions don't work (for me)

I have a FULL year to meet that resolution. Which makes me put off doing the damn thing until it's december. Then I realize it's too late.

Instead, I set monthly goals.

TL:DR Start working on your goals NOW. Don't wait until January 1.

Anyways, here's some tips to get you started.

1. Make it a habit.

Don't rely on motivation, if you're serious about what you wanna do. This is something I struggled with for a long time- writing only when I felt motivated. 

Instead, write everyday. Or at least every week. SHOW up to writing regularly. Don't be afraid to write complete trash that will never end up in the book.

2. Compress your goal to a 2 minute task.

Let's say you wanna go cycling everyday.

But you wake up in the morning, think you'll go later, and end up wasting the whole day. Before you go to bed you feel guilty.

To fix this, compress the task into a two minute one.

Everyday, put on your cycling outfit (if you have a specific outfit), and just go downstairs to touch your cycle. And then, if you don't feel like cycling after that, you can go back to bed.

I KNOW IT SOUNDS REALLY DUMB and it feels like I'm telling you to just touch some grass but GUYS I have used this and it works SO well.

So next time you feel unmotivated to write, just turn on your PC.

3. Be Specific

It's not enough to say, 'I will cycle tomorrow.' Write down the time and the place somewhere.

eg, 'Tomorrow, as soon as I wake up, I will go to my living room and write for 30 minutes'.

I don't know why the heck this works but it DOES.

(BTW, in case you haven't guessed it, the stuff I put here are from 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear. The BEST self-help book I've ever read with no fluff and ACTIONABLE advice. It helped me out with my life. I used to study barely 30 minutes a day but now I study at least 3 hours a day, almost every day, and hopefully will continue to do so.)

4. Work in Chunks

This is more of a study tip.

Don't work at a stretch. Split your study time into 25 minute or 45 minute chunks, whichever works better for you. Listen to music at that time, do some dancing, exercise, BUT DO NOT USE SOCIAL MEDIA you will be sucked into a void of cat videos. 

5. Wake up earlier

Some people boutta be real mad at me, but Imma give you some #toughlove.

IF you want your day to be more productive, you have to wake up earlier. Bonus points if you wake up at 4 am.

I know some people are gonna be like, 'But tHaliA, i'M a nIghT oWl'. NO YOU'RE NOT HONEY, YOU'RE A LATE NIGHT YOUTUBE USER.

Look- I've been there. My dad used to maintain a strict rule when we were younger,  No lights after 12 am. And honestly, I used to be much more productive then. I used to get up at 4, study MATHS (T-T) for 1.5 hours because I was almost FAILING (Used to get Es and Ds). In the end, after less than a year, I got 89% in O levels. I'm pretty happy with the grade and I'm so glad I used to do that. 

6. Social Media addicts...

So I put the Instagram app on my phone inside a folder called 'Go Study'. So every time I need to open Instagram, I need to tap that folder, and I am reminded to study. It uses my guilt and has helped me be less addicted to Instagram.

7. 'I want to do this, but I don't have to.'

SO people are gonna think you're weird, but just do it.

Whenever you do something, particularly something BAD, say it out loud, 'I want to use Instagram... but I don't have to.'

My little bro stared at me when I tried this trick, but I shut the phone and went back to study.

Also, you kind of need to make this a habit. Don't be embarrassed. Just do it. Who cares what other people think? It's not weird for you to keep saying " I REALLY WANNA WATCH MIRACULOUS LADYBUG BUT I DON'T HAVE TO".

Not weird at all...

8. Feeling down? Can't work? JOURNAL.

This has helped me a lot through quarantine. 

I used to be able to meet my friends and vent out my feelings, but now, due to lockdown in my country, I can't. So whenever something minimally inconvenient happens in my life, I complain about it in writing. Whenever I feel like life sucks, I WRITE about it. And also, if I want to cry, I just do it. Yes, it's embarrassing to explain to other people if they ever catch me, but suppressing your emotions just spread the pain out for a longer period, which means I'm less productive.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

9. Make good habits easier to do and bad habits harder to do

Let's say you wanna learn guitar, but you forget to practice everyday.

In that case, put the guitar in a part of your room where you see it everyday. I know it's not possible for some people's houses, in the case that someone might break your guitar by accident if you put it out in the open. For that, stick a note on your wall which says, 'PLAY GUITAR'. 

For studying, every night, before I sleep, I place a math textbook next to my bed, so it's the first thing I see when I wake up. I get up and start doing maths, because I don't really like it that much so I need to discipline myself to do it. 

Reverse this for bad habits. If you use your phone too much, hand over your phone to your mom. Make her change the password to your phone so only she can unlock it when you need it for studies. (You can let both your parents know the password. In the case they both work for long hours, give your sibling the responsibility- although siblings may abuse the power, just warning you). This is kind of a drastic measure, but if you can't get over your phone addiction, it helps a lot. 

If you're addicted to a particular app, stuff it inside a folder so you have to take that extra effort to open it. 

10. Habit stacking

Let' say you wanna develop a new habit but find it hard.

If you enjoy watching TV a lot, make it a rule that whenever you watch TV, you also have to run on your treadmill. 

If you are addicted to listening to music, pair it with doing maths. (Play instrumental versions of your favorite songs for maximum benefit. Also, in case you waste a lot of time CHOOSING the music, fear not child, I will prepare some playlists that I will share in the next update). 

BONUS: If you're addicted to social media, the best thing is to actually delete the account, unless you need it for studies or something. You can also deactiviate it, or delete the app after every use. Furthermore, you can also replace social media time with reading. 

Anyways hope this helps. If it doesn't let me know.

To hold yourself accountable, write down your New Year's Resolution here so you're more motivated to finish it!

Anndddd good luck y'all! Start working on your goals TODAY! Don't wait for Jan 1.