With only a few days left before 2017 is finally going to end this stressful year and give us hopes for new beginnings all over again, you may already be thinking about your new year’s resolutions and the things you’re willing to accomplish in 2017. With all the events that happened in 2016, everyone is eager to close the page and open a new one, even though it will most likely be even more difficult and challenging. But, there’re still a few things you may manage to do in 2016 to enter the new year as a more organized, prepared and positive person.
So, here’s a selection of things you might want to put on your to-do list for the next few days before the New Year’s celebration.
Things to finish before the new year
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Go over your yearly budget
Look deeper into your finances to recap on your spendings and earnings and determine how financially responsible you’ve been throughout this year.
Have you been living within your means? Did you spend more than you should? Did you manage to put enough money into the savings account and retirement fund? What about the loans? It’s always nice to review our budget to correct our financial behavior, set the goals and develop a new budgeting strategy for the upcoming year.
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Reorganize your space
A little change always feels awesome after a long, difficult year and a tiring holiday season. Use the last few days of 2016 to declutter, get rid of the unnecessary stuff that’s accumulated throughout the year and reorganize your belongings. Make your home/room feel fresh and ready for the year to come.
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Donate to the charities
You don’t have to donate cash if you practically have no spare money left after the Christmas shopping and holiday celebrations. But, you may go through your closet to get rid of the clothes you rarely wear and donate them to the local charities. You may buy some food and share it with the ones in need. There’s always a way to make someone’s life better and give back to the community even if you’re living a quite modest lifestyle.
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Conduct an early spring cleaning
Don’t enter 2017 with the old dust, grime and stains on the carpet. Get your house scrubbed from top to bottom by professional house cleaners from HireRush.com and complete the house chores you’ve been putting off for too long (like, organizing your garage, doing laundry, replacing the broken lights, fixing a faulty washing machine). Your vehicle will appreciate a thorough wash before the New Year’s as well. Leave your request here
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Take care of the doctor’s appointments for the new year
With the changes in the health care and insurance system that happened in 2016, it’s really important to be aware of the ways those may affect your medication subscriptions and regular appointments you normally attend. Thus, contact your doctor and schedule an appointment for January to discuss the subscriptions (especially birth control for women) and conduct a health check to make sure that you’ll have a healthy start of the new year.
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Start being more active
How many times did you put ‘start exercising’ as your new year’s resolution? And home nay times did you fail? Don’t wait till the next year and start being healthier right now, so that by the time 2017 comes, exercising and clean eating develops into your consistent habit. Become a member of a local gym, find an online exercise plan or get in touch with a personal trainer to start your fitness journey.
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Spend some time off social media
Go for a social media cleanse and turn off your Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat notifications or Wi-Fi on your phone in general. Lift your head off the phone and spend some actual quality time with your friends and family members in real life, concentrate on your mental health and spend some me-time without diving into your social media accounts.
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Create a list of positive memories
Let’s be honest, 2016 may win the crown for being one of the worst years we got to experience. However, among the terrible things, deaths and choices that happened to our country and the global community in the year that (thank God!) is about to end, there were a lot of memorable events and personal achievements it has to be remembered for.
So, sit down at the table to rewind 2016 and make a list of positive things, events and small victories that made this year a little bit better. Pack those into your 2017 luggage instead of the negativity the current year has been more than full of.
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Do one thing you’ve been wanting to do the whole year
What was your 2016 goal you never got to completing? What was the thing you desperately wanted to do/get but never did? Maybe, you wanted 2016 to be the year of getting a pet, starting a new career, visiting the friend you have not seen for a while, finding a new hobby or changing your lifestyle. Pick the most realistic, but highly desirable thing from that list and try your best to get it done before the New Year.
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Write your resolutions
The ultimate reason to actually get those written out is that we get to think about our goals for the next year, new accomplishments we’d like to achieve, new aspirations that will keep us going and the mistakes to avoid. Resolutions are kind of a mean of self-organization, hope, and reassurance everyone needs at the kick start of the new year. And, it doesn’t even matter that we rarely stick to even 10% of them.
