Making your New Year’s resolutions is easy; keeping them is hard — as you may be finding already. But with these prompts to remind you of the promises you’ve made to yourself, they can become second nature. If they’re well-chosen, helpful resolutions, you’ll be glad of these prompts, even if they’re somewhat unorthodox. Some involve technical preparation, but that’s part of the fun. In any case, they all will help you remember.
Simplify them
Reduce each of your resolutions to a few words for easy recall and reference. Ideally, cut them down to just one word each, like “smile,” “apply” or “brave.” That single word will bring back the whole commitment and the reasons behind it. Maybe write out those keywords in bright colors, stick them onto a colored card, and thread them into a necklace, bracelet or bookmark to remind you of them throughout the day.
Send reminders to yourself
Set up your phone to remind you daily (or more often if you like) until you’re confident you can remember your resolutions independently. If your phone doesn’t have this function, set your alarm to come on at a convenient time each day. You can also time a tweet to yourself, to receive at a relevant time. If you’ve made a resolution to get fit, for instance, set your message to reach you just before your scheduled workout time.
Make a ringtone with your keywords
Record yourself listing your keywords, preferably as a song or with some background music or beat (something you’ll enjoy listening to), and set it as your phone’s ringtone. Just watch your friends’ faces when they hear (and are bewildered by) your mysterious chant.
Make a resolutions-themed screensaver
Create a computer screensaver, featuring your keywords or illustrations for them, or both together. You could use your computer’s “paint” program or similar art capability to write the words in bright colors and add in some illustrations, or you could use a photo or download an image to represent each of your commitments. Alternatively, type out your resolutions in full, preferably in unusual fonts and bright colors that will keep you looking at them. If you’re not sure how to convert your design into a screensaver, just search online for guidelines, and you should have it up and working in no time.
Sing your resolutions in bed
Chant or sing your New Year’s resolutions. Adopt a favorite tune for them, and sing it as you close your eyes at night and again in the morning before getting up. Use these quiet, private times to consider whether you’ve been keeping to them, and how you could improve. It’s also worth re-evaluating the commitments themselves, to see if they’re the best ones possible for you, and whether they’re too hard or complicated to adhere to for the whole year.
Your pesky reminders will soon drive you to take your commitments fully on board, accommodating them in your everyday life, so you don’t even have to stop and think about them. But until that point, these simple tricks will keep you safely on track.