Many New Year's resolutions require an ongoing commitment of time, energy, and/or other resources. This can be challenging to sustain. 92% of New Year’s resolutions fail, most of them within a couple of weeks.

However, there's a way around this. Make some resolutions that you can complete in one day. You can broaden this to any one-time activity if you like: a weekend workshop, a housecleaning week, a two-week vacation, etc. If you're really swamped, you could even shrink it down to one-hour resolutions. Do what works for you, based on the resources you have and goals you hope to accomplish.

Here are some ideas for one-day resolutions. Some of these need no further attention once complete. Others are small, concrete steps toward further progress.


ACTIVITIES

* Drive around a different neighborhood in your town to see if it has anything interesting.

* Play a new tabletop game.

* Listen to some new music.

* Take an afternoon class.

* Try a new hobby. You don't have to commit, just sample it. There are apps for this too.

* Do a quarterly or yearly cleaning task. If you feel ambitious, pick several.


KITCHEN

* Buy an appliance or gadget for healthy cooking such as a crockpot, Foreman grill, or wok.

* Use an appliance or gadget that you already own but rarely deploy.

* Put fruits and vegetables on the countertop so you'll remember to eat them.

* Browse a cookbook with your family and mark recipes that sound good.

* Cook a new recipe.

* Try a new food or cuisine.

* Clean out a drawer or cabinet.

* Make some spice blends.

* Make meals in advance.
** 10 Meals in Under an Hour
** 20 Meals in 2 Hours
** 40 Meals in 4 Hours
** 122 Freezer Crockpot Meals in One Afternoon
** 16 Slow Cooker Recipes You Can Make Once And Freeze All Winter

* Choose a new food app.


NOT TO DO LIST

* Fill out a Not to Do list. You can use this printable Not To Do list.

* Give up something for one day. It can be anything you wish to do less of: email, social networking sites, television, junk food, soda, meat, raising your voice, sitting, driving, etc. If successful, you can always expand to once a month or once a week.

* No emotional labor unless people pay you for it. One day without your servitude is unlikely to kill anyone.

* Spend a day acting as if you don't have a personality trait you want to reduce or eliminate.

* Locate and remove one distraction, like a piece of paper that buzzes against an air vent, or phone app that wastes your time.

* After making a To Do list, tear off part of it and give to someone else. Delegation makes life easier!

* Explore some new ways to say no:
** 20 Ways to Say No
** 50 Ways to Say No Gracefully and Effectively
** 80 Different Ways to Say No Politely
** 100 Different Ways to Say No
** 100+ Funny and Creative Ways to Say "No"
** 162 Ways to Say No
** Creative Ways to Say No in Speaking

* Instead of letting other people poach your time and energy, tell them to go away.
** 50 Polite Ways To Tell Someone To Screw Off And Never Speak To You Again
** 62 Ways to Politely End a Conversation In ANY Situation
** The Art of Saying Fuck You and Fuck Off
** How to Tell Someone to Fuck Off in 20 Countries
** My favourite ways to have people leave me alone, via email


ORGANIZATION

* Make a family organization center.

* Remove all your old calendars and replace them with new ones.

* Buy an organizer (drawer, desktop, closet, etc.) and set it up.

* Get a desktop calendar, then write your tasks and goals in it.

* Install an app on your smartphone or other device to help you accomplish goals.

* Walk through your home and do a safety check. Replace batteries in fire alarms, motion sensors, etc. Make sure locks work properly. Update emergency numbers.


OUTDOOR

* Hike at a local park or nature reserve.

* Hang a birdhouse or other wildlife house.

* Put up a birdfeeder. If you're more ambitious, make a wildlife feeding station.

* Plant a wildlife garden for bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds.

* Set up a birdbath.

* Make a brushpile.

* Build a hibernaculum for critters to stay during harsh weather.

* Start a compost heap.

* Learn a wilderness or survival skill.

* Pick an app to learn more or stay safe.


PERSONAL GROWTH

* Learn a new coping skill.

* Try a different type of meditation.

* Use a life wheel to analyze your balance.

* Do a worksheet: cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, self-care. Here is a whole wellbeing workbook.

* Get an app for self-help, self-care, or self-improvement.


READING

* Install a new bookcase to gather up all the loose books in your home.

* Clean out a bookcase and collect unwanted or duplicate titles to give away.

* Put up a Little Free Library.

* Join BookCrossing.

* Subscribe to a magazine that supports your goals and interests.
** Diversity: Ability, American Indian, The Black Scholar, Diversity Journal, Feminist, Latina, Queerspace
** Healthy Eating: Bake from Scratch, Cuisine at Home, Eating Well, Whole Foods
** Fitness: Cycling Weekly, Dance, Martial Arts World News, Muscle & Fitness, Prevention, Trails
** Literature: Fantasy & Science Fiction, Harper's Magazine, Mystery, Poetry, Star*Line, Zoetrope All-Story
** Nature: Audubon, Mother Earth News, National Parks, Natural History, Salty at Heart
** News: Consumer Reports, Foreign Affairs, In These Times, Newsweek, Time
** Whole Life: Alive, Breathe, Hobby Farms, Real Simple, Self-Reliance
** World: Afar, Discover, National Geographic, Smithsonian

* Try an app for bookworms.


What other one-day resolutions can you think of?