As a new year begins, we're often encouraged to redouble efforts towards a long-term objective, whether that objective is something work-related or personal. What often goes unmentioned however, is taking a look at areas in your life where efforts should be throttled back, retargeted or completely abandoned.

By now, most of us have learned that time is our most valuable and most scarce resource. While it is always possible to earn more money, it is impossible to gain more than 24 hours in a day. Where we allocate that time is one of the most important personal management decisions we can make and, as the New Year encourages us to tackle new projects, from learning a new hobby to getting in better shape, we should look for corresponding reductions in the amount of time we spend in other areas. I am not a sociologist or psychologist, but I would imagine most resolutions fail shortly after the New Year because we add a huge helping to an already overloaded plate, forcing something to fall off in short order.

In my mind, the best projects to drop from your plate are those where incremental effort results in little gain, what mathematicians call the law of diminishing returns. Look for projects in your work and personal life where you feel you keep applying another 10% effort for only a 1% gain and consider what to do with these projects. If a large increase in effort only generates a modicum in improvement, the converse is also true, and you can reduce your efforts on this project with a correspondingly small reduction in results.

The project might be a "born loser," and you are hitting the law of diminishing returns at an early stage, a sign that your efforts may best be redirected elsewhere. While the world encourages you to tackle new challenges, take a few moments to look at "old business," and give yourself permission to throttle back and abandon losing propositions as you see fit before taking on a new commitment.

I recently completely a half-marathon, and was somewhat surprised to find a list of "phrases to avoid" in the spectators guide. The race organizers asked that those on the sidelines not shout things like: Almost there, Just a few more miles, You're right around the corner, etc. The logic presumably being that one or two more miles might seem like nothing to someone standing on the sidelines, but could be an eternity to the runner who was physically and mentally exhausted.

Such advice might be wise in an organizational setting as well. While many companies are far too short with praise and encouragement, others seem ready to throw a party for each minor accomplishment, or ply them with platitudes like "almost done" when the real meat of the effort has yet to come. There are certainly far worse "crimes" than over-celebrating or poorly targeted praise, but when a team is slogging through a difficult project, rather than motivating, you may end up sapping the teams' will to continue and making real accomplishment seem trivial rather than special.

If you have followed this column for any length of time, you have likely read my ranting and ravings about bad business jargon. Apparently I am not alone in my distaste for managing expectations while taking your blue-sky strategy out of the box. I comment on this phenomenon in this month's Forbes Magazine, and you can find the article online at Forbes.

While Buick is often seen as a relic of a dying auto brand in the US, it is quite popular in China, and the Buick models there range from sporty coupes, to family wagons and the ubiquitous expat vehicle: the Buick minivan. Since most companies do not allow their expat employees to drive in China, in any of the major cities you are sure to see a silver or grey Buick minivan with deeply tinted windows pull up to an office building or hotel, and discharge or collect a load of foreigners.

During one of my last stays in China I was attempting to transition back to the US time zone a bit early, in the hopes of reducing the impact of jet lag on my return. Having stayed up a bit late I was moving slowly the next morning, and running late for my morning pickup. I ran through the lobby, putting on my coat and juggling bags, happy to see my usual silver Buick minivan waiting outside the lobby doors. I threw open the door, muttered a few apologies and was just about to crawl in and slam the door when I noticed my usual cadre of white and Indonesian colleagues had been replaced by several confused-looking Japanese gentlemen. I flashed what must have been an equally confused look, and at approximately the same time I noticed my usual driver tapping on the window and pointing to another silver Buick minivan just across the driveway.