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Did you spend most of 2015 working flat-out? Coping with the demands of your work with not enough time at home or asleep, and fitting jobs like your Self-Assessment in at the very last second as you sit exhaustedly at your PC? You’re not alone.

The problem with working to capacity – as well as the obvious strain this can put on us, our family and home-life – is that we never give ourselves a chance to step back and assess our careers and our businesses.
Because when we’re constantly firefighting, finding the time or the energy to look at what we’re achieving and where we’d like to be can be simply overlooked.

But how can we progress in our careers or our businesses without looking at where we’ve been, and, crucially, identifying where we’d like to get to? It’s a bit like driving at top speed, with no clue where we’re going, just trying not to crash.

So, one of the very best resolutions you can make this year is to take some time to think, and plan your direction. For now, maybe just set aside a couple of hours to make a start on your plan – and crucially book more time (that you actually take) to complete it.

It doesn’t need to be onerous, just some clear thoughts on where you’d like to be in six months, a year, and longer term. You’d be surprised at what you can achieve in just a few hours if you stay away from work, the phone and your emails.

Planning might not give you more time, but what it will do is show if you’re on the right track professionally. By working out where you’d like to be at given points in time, it’s easier to see if you’re actually heading there – or if you’re simply veering off in the wrong direction as you race through each day.

Like every other one, 2016 will no doubt fly past, so what better time than now to choose to take the wheel and get back in control?

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