One New Year’s resolution to rule them all

The easiest, most powerful behaviour change for now, 2024 & beyond

In 12 days it will be next year. Many of us (25% or 37% or 66%) make resolutions at the start of the New Year. The practice has been around since at least the time of Mark Twain who wrote, on 1 Jan 1863:

Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time.

Younger people engage the most in the ritual. It makes sense: in general, they have a longer future to try and improve. 

And about half of us stick to at least some of our resolutions throughout the year. That represents a huge amount of improved behaviour. And demonstrates that it’s possible. Studies have shown that the fresh-start effect of the New Year is psychologically effective for keeping our promises to ourselves.

Which resolution?

The most popular resolutions we pick are about our health: fitness, health, weight and diet tend to top the surveys. After that come personal finance, more time with loved ones, skills development, time for hobbies, more travel, better work performance.

These are all, of course, perfectly positive endeavours. But none of thes is the one you should choose. The resolution you should choose is timeboxing. There are countless reasons for this suggestion but I’ll break it down here into just two.

The cost of timeboxing is tiny. You’re already doing it. You already have a calendar and you already have appointments in there — personal items as well as meetings. Timeboxing is simply an extension of this, to a few more slots and with a little more intention and proactivity. It will be easy to adopt timeboxing as a habit.

The benefits of timeboxing are massive. Once you’re up and running with timeboxing, you can slot in any of the resolutions above. Want to see more of your partner? Timebox it. Want to understand your finances better? Timebox it. Want to spend more time on a hobby? Timebox it. And if you want the change to recur, just set a recurring weekly or monthly timebox. I have recurring daily timeboxes for exercising, spending time with kids, and preparing for meetings. I wouldn’t do any of these consistently without the calendarised prompts. Timeboxing is the one habit to rule them all. 

Of course, you’ll still hit some roadblocks. But my experience, many others’ experiences and a host of scientific studies say that, overall, you’re a lot more likely to see the resolution through if you timebox it.

You have 12 days to pick your New Year’s Resolution(s). Pick just one. Pick timeboxing. And why even wait 12 days? Start now. There’s no time like the present.

Photo of fireworks by Daniel Krithinas on Unsplash