Q:  I’m in a similar situation as your reader last week in that my new year’s resolutions at work quickly fall by the wayside.  My resolution was to not let my email inbox get out of control, but it already is.  I liked your advice (breaking it down into 12 pieces and dedicating a different month to accomplishing each one), and it reminded me that new year’s resolutions have similarities to goal setting, which I’m quite good at.  How can I apply those skills to my advantage?

A:  Whether we call them goals, habit changes, or new year’s resolutions, the bottom line is we’re looking to get a result (healthier diet) that requires us to modify our behavior (eat veggies) and our environment (have veggies handy).

If you’re skilled at goal setting, you can certainly apply some of those skills to your new year’s resolutions.  Let’s review Goal Setting 101.   Goals should be S-M-A-R-T. Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. Timed.  For our purpose, the most important are Attainable and Relevant.  Here’s why:

At first look, my 12-items-in-12-months formula sounds simple.  But the challenge is picking 12 things –such as behavior, habit, environment changes- that not only get you wanted results (relevant) but are also realistic (attainable) in a work environment.

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For example, one of the causes of your overcrowded inbox may be that you get hundreds of emails daily.  However, attempting to lower how many emails you receive may not be within your control (not attainable), because that’s the nature of many jobs.  What might be more doable is devoting a month to figuring out how to respond, auto-reply or process those emails, and learning email productivity skills (attainable).

But, what if the real cause of your overcrowded email is that you never say no, so people constantly ask for favors, input and include you in everything?  In that case, learning to say no is more relevant (and attainable) than learning to manage incoming email. See the difference?  Clearly, this process requires honesty and self-awareness so you can identify what’s causing the problem and if you may be contributing to it, (relevant) and what you can do about it (attainable).

Sound complicated? Not really. Because 12-items-in-12-months takes the long view, it’s also very forgiving. If you try something and it’s just not working, you have a year to readjust, tweak and change it. So revisit your resolutions, there’s plenty of time left in 2014!