It’s December 31st, 2012. Time to reflect upon the last 365 days of the year – what went well – and what we’d like to do differently. It’s time to write down on little pieces of paper our New Year’s Resolutions and do our best to keep them. I’m not sure how you feel about New Year’s Resolutions, but I’m famous for starting the year off with a bang only to fizzle around mid-February.

These days, I generally avoid New Year’s Resolutions; but as I sat down to create this end of the year blog, I started thinking about if I were to create a list of resolutions, what would be on my list? Here are a some of my thoughts.

Work Resolutions (a little background – I handle marketing efforts for Modern Retail)

1. Become a Social Media Expert (or at least more fluent)

With new social networking avenues cropping up every time I turn around, I want to know the sites, trends and how to maximize exposure for businesses (ours and our retailers) better. I would like to get two steps ahead of social media rather than feeling like I’m one step behind.

2. Make Social Media a Part of My Everyday Life

Sure I get on Facebook and Pinterest when I have time on a personal level – which is not very often. But I’d like to make it a part of my everyday work life – pinning, tweeting, “instagramming” (ok – maybe that’s not a word yet, but at the rate Instagram is growing, it soon will be).

3. Blog More (or maybe find the time to blog more)

We all know that a big part of drawing people to our website is creating compelling content – regularly and frequently. Some may argue that my New Year’s resolutions don’t qualify as compelling content, but I would argue that many of our retailers and others involved in e-commerce share the same resolutions.

4. Write More

I know that sounds redundant with #3, but we overhauled our website in 2012. We always knew it was a work in progress and we plan to continually add compelling content and depth to our site in 2013 and beyond.

5. Experiment with Videos and Webcasts (or encourage my team to)

I try to remember that content doesn’t just include text, but it’s so easy to fall back on what you know. Compelling videos and webcasts draw just as much – if not more – attention than a dazzling written blog. Just ask the Korean musician PSY who went viral with his video Gangnam Style!

Personal Resolutions (which in turn boost work resolutions)

6. Eat Better, Work-Out More

This is probably the number one resolution for most people. I too would like to dust off my health club key fob and start using my husband’s juicer (I bought him one for Christmas with this resolution in mind). How does it relate to my work resolutions? They say a healthier, more energized person is a more productive person. As I mentioned before, I usually fizzle on this one around mid-February, so I’ve yet to see if it’s true.

7. Take Time For Me

Whether it’s a 10 minute break or a 2-week vacation, I’d like to learn to take a break from work without feeling guilty or the need to check in all the time. The truth is that many companies insist that employees use their vacation so they don’t get burned out. The theory is that they return well rested and ready to focus. Unfortunately, I happen to be a Type A personality, so turning off has always been hard for me.

8. Find Balance

This kind of goes along with #2 above, but I’d like to find a better balance between Work, Family and Life in General. I’m the queen of multi-tasking – like many of those that I work with – and can often be found writing a blog while helping kids with homework while making dinner while planning out the next day’s activities in my head. Balance to me would be setting aside time for each activity and being able to focus on one thing at a time (when possible) – and of course, without the guilt that I’m letting someone down.

9. Have More Fun

This needs no explanation. A little laughter goes a long way towards energizing the mind.

I thought about coming up with one more resolution – my Top Ten list – but I decided that if I’m going to try to keep them, maybe less is more. Luckily for me, I really love what I do; so I’m very optimistic about sticking with my resolutions this year. At first thought, the hardest will be eating healthier and working out more, but compared to 2012, I suppose I won’t have to do much on that one!

Happy New Year from all of us at Modern Retail!