Dear   ,    

In this "most wonderful time of the year", my best wishes go out to you and your loved ones.  May you have a happy holiday season filled with love and peace, and may you reflect with appreciation on all you've accomplished this past year.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. 

- Maryann Murphy 

  Time Management for the New Year

Are you enjoying the holiday season? Looking forward to spending time with family and friends over the coming weeks? Or are you stressing over all you need to do?  

New Year's resolutions are great opportunities to plan on doing more of the things you look forward to (spending time with family and friends), and less time stressing over what you need to do.  This time of year can be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the year gone by, and plan to make the year ahead even better.

Here's a suggestion for 3 things to consider as you plan ahead for 2014:

• Balance.  Is your life and schedule balanced the way you want it to be? Maybe you're spending too much time on work and not enough with your family, or not enough time taking care of your health?  How could you be more efficient at work to give yourself more time on your other priorities? Consider all the parts of your life, and figure out how to give more time to the important areas you've been neglecting lately.
• Scheduling.  Scheduling time for your priorities will make them more likely to happen. Figure out when, exactly, you can fit in exercise or social time or reading time, and make it part of your regular routine. Protect that time by refusing to schedule other activities at the same time.
• Focus.  Focus on just one new habit at a time and give it your all until it's established as a regular part of your schedule.  Trying to take on too many New Year's resolutions at once can be a recipe for failing at all of them.  Pick your most important priority and focus all the support you can to make that one really happen.  Plan to start work on the next one in February, but dedicate January to your most important New Year's resolution.