As 2019 has come to a close and the new decade begins, many people will take this time as an opportunity to reflect and set new goals for the future. The best resolutions are the ones that are personal to you, and everyone will have different priorities. However, if you want some inspiration for some resolutions that you might want to work towards this year, these are our new years’ resolutions for 2020. The most successful goals will probably be ones that are smart (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based), rather than vague goals that don’t require you to take any concrete action.

1. Veganuary 

As the environmental effects of the meat and dairy industries are gaining more attention with the climate crisis, many are starting to make more of an effort to cut down their consumption of products made with these ingredients. Switching to a vegan diet for the month of January could be a great way to start. Even just reducing your meat or dairy intake will make a massive difference, if cutting it out completely is too much of a commitment. I’m going to participate in Veganuary this year, except I’m changing the dates so that I don’t have to do it at home. Resolutions are supposed to be flexible enough that they fit around your personal life; so changing this one to make it achievable for you is totally reasonable (as with all of the resolutions!)

2. Sustainable fashion

I am committing to not buying any new clothes this year. Fast fashion is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. My bank account will also definitely thank me for taking this step. I can still buy second-hand clothes if I’m craving some retail therapy though, so charity shops, vintage shops and depop will be my faves next year.

3. Stop scrolling on Instagram

It turns out that for me, the habits I have got into with the way I use social media apps like Instagram aren’t always the best for my mental state. I was going to just put ‘stop comparing yourself to everyone else’ as my resolution but this doesn’t seem very concrete; it’s a great goal but is too vague for me to actually do anything about it. So stopping using the explore page on Instagram, and limiting how I use the app, will be my way of starting to do this.

4. Get enough sleep 

There are so many health benefits to having a regular night’s sleep that it’s a little bit ridiculous it has taken me this long to realise maybe I should try and give myself one. I am a night owl so the bed time I’m setting myself for this year is midnight. I still want a social life though, so on days where I’m going out or socialising with friends I can stay up as long as I want. But on days where all I’m doing is procrastinating sleep with Netflix, I want to actually put it away and be asleep by the time the next day rolls around.

5. Join a new society/ try something new

Societies can be a great way to make friends as well as pick up a new hobby or skill, and you don’t have to wait until the start of the academic year to join a new one. Depending on how my work schedule is, I would like to try one new society and see how it goes this year.

6. Drink responsibly 

I like to have a good time and getting drunk can be part of that, but there is such a thing as too much alcohol. Hopefully I’ll be able to have a good time without getting hangovers next year, but, failing that, my resolution is to get through the year without being sick from alcohol poisoning.

7. Stop skipping uni

We’re paying hundreds of pounds for each lecture and seminar if you break down the hours, so we may as well actually make use of them. Unless I’m genuinely ill, I want to go to all my lectures and seminars in 2020, and do enough reading for them all to know what’s going on.

8. Turn notifications off

My phone did something weird earlier this month and decided to stop giving me notifications for Snapchat. While this was an accident, I found that I didn’t miss them. When my phone sorted itself out and gave me notifications again, I realised that they made me pay much more attention to my phone (which is constantly on me) than I should. So I’m turning notifications off for non-essential apps like Snapchat and Instagram, to make my phone less a source of stress and distractions, and more something that I actively choose to pick up when I want to.

Although setting yourself resolutions is something you can do productively at any point in the year, January is one of the most popular times for setting new goals. You can use the motivation of the start of a new decade to push you into improving yourself and your own life in whatever ways you see appropriate for you!