Make This Your Most Productive Year Ever - 26 Tips

Each year we start the year thinking about our goals, our job, our health, all the 'new' routines and commitments we make to ourself to make this our best year yet? but two weeks into January all our planning and resolution goes out the window! You can make this your best year ever by applying some of these simple ideas (and re-reading this article each year to keep you on track.

Make a date. Make time in your diary to find a quiet, comfortable location to set your goals. I spend a morning at my favourite table in the tearoom of the Sheraton on the Park (a beautiful hotel in Sydney city) in January every year to review my goals and set new ones for the year ahead.

No more New Year's Resolutions! Instead, focus on creating realistic goals for all areas of your life - I call these your top 5.

Take five. Create five categories for which to set goals: physical, educational, spiritual, financial, and relational. By setting goals for each of these areas of your life, you will be taking a balanced approach and not neglecting any important aspects of your life.

Write it. You must write your goals down - it makes them more powerful. Use positive language - words like "I will" and "I am" - this will help you to feel as though you have already achieved your goals and to change your behaviors accordingly, for example, "I am going to the gym three times per week". Make sure you allocate a specific timeframe for the completion of each goal, for example, "By the beginning of March, I am going to the gym three times per week". Now, identify a reward for achieving each goal - don't just make a list of rewards, relate a specific reward to the achievement of a specific goal. This will inspire you even more toward the achievement of your goal. And finally, list the possible obstacles that will get in the way of you achieving each goal, and how you will overcome these. This will help you to pre-empt the things that might go wrong and immediately swing into action with your solution, rather than giving up on your goal.

Review constantly. I have been told that the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is that a billionaire reads their goals twice a day. Simple really. I keep a copy of my goals in several locations around my house (on the bathroom mirror, on the printer, outside the shower screen, on the fridge, on my bedside table and in my wallet), which makes it easy for me to see my goals and be reminded of what I am working towards several times a day.

Use it or lose it! I recently read - people who spend a thousand dollars or more each year on their personal development will increase their Business by 20 percent. Read more books, attend workshops, find a new networking group, listen to tapes or CDs in your car, do online courses or enrol at college or university. Keep your brain active.

Make time. Eliminate time-robbers from your day - make a list of all the things you do that rob you of your time, such as watching too much TV, running errands inefficiently, checking and responding to your email too often, making long phone calls, waiting in traffic and even other people. Focus on controlling your time - organising your day efficiently and getting rid of the things in your life that are not a high priority.

Update your Resume. Make an appointment with yourself for one hour to update your resume. Be prepared. You never know when that job of your dreams might come along or if an internal opportunity becomes available.

Create a paperless desk. Remove a