{"id":17101,"date":"2021-01-05T19:42:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T03:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=17101"},"modified":"2021-01-05T19:42:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T03:42:28","slug":"five-resolutions-to-revel-in-this-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/five-resolutions-to-revel-in-this-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Five resolutions to revel in this new year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kick off 2021 with these New Year\u2019s resolutions<\/em><\/p>\n

Allison Vanderzanden<\/strong> | Lifestyle Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

The start of 2021 brings about a new sense of determination in the form of New Year’s resolutions. Though some may be just for fun, this time of year is also a great opportunity to think about trying some practical self-improvement resolutions. Here are five New Year\u2019s resolutions to consider adding to the list and a few tips to help achieve them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get more sleep: <\/b>According to Georgia State University, getting enough sleep \u2014 approximately nine hours for college students \u2014 is important to improving concentration and memory, rejuvenating energy and strengthening the immune system. In order to get a better night\u2019s rest, healthline.com says to create a sleep schedule that involves going to bed and waking up at around the same time every day. Set a recurring alarm on one\u2019s phone, and be sure to plan ahead for school projects that may otherwise take away from sleep. If sleep is difficult, try turning off electronics at least 30 minutes before bed, avoiding caffeine in the evening or taking melatonin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Start saving money: <\/b>Whether it\u2019s for a house down payment, retirement or a rainy day fund, saving money is a great habit to start as soon as possible. To begin, set up a savings account at a trusted bank or credit union. Then, as thebalance.com recommends, transfer a set amount out of each paycheck into savings; even if this can only be a small amount, saving any money is better than saving no money in preparation for the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Get organized: <\/b>Decluttering and keeping organized can decrease stress while increasing productivity as stated by organizedmindandlife.com. Start small with just the desk or closet; throw out things deemed unnecessary and use containers to organize like items. Keep things organized by doing a little cleaning every day as opposed to letting it pile up overtime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Go vegetarian: <\/b>According to healthline.com, going vegetarian has health benefits, including lower cholesterol and improved cardiovascular health, and environmental impacts through supporting animal rights and decreasing the need for factory farming. If cutting out meat all at once is challenging, try participating in \u201cMeatless Mondays.\u201d Also stock up on plant-based alternatives to one\u2019s favorite meat products in order to curb cravings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reduce time on social media: <\/b>Social media is all but an addiction for many of us, yet curbing time spent on social media can be beneficial to mental health says healthguide.org. Set aside a specific amount of time to spend on social media per day \u2014 30 minutes for example \u2014 and utilize screen time apps to help. Also try turning off notifications for certain apps and muting or unfollowing accounts that don\u2019t bring happiness. Deleting social media altogether is another option, though depending on one\u2019s attachment to their feed, this may be a goal to work up to.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Contact the author at avanderzanden19@mail.wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kick off 2021 with these New Year\u2019s resolutions<\/p>\n

Allison Vanderzanden | Lifestyle Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":17096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[481,156,155,486,154,482,485,484,483],"class_list":["post-17101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-481","tag-allison","tag-allison-vanderzanden","tag-life-hack","tag-lifestyle","tag-resolutions","tag-self-care","tag-self-improvement","tag-tips"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}