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100 New Year's Resolution Ideas You Can Actually Keep

100 small, specific New Year's resolution ideas sorted by area: health, money, reading, screen time, career, home, relationships and fun. Each one says what, when and how much, so you know on January 2 whether you did it.

MKMark King · Published Nov 9, 2026 · 6 min read

“Get healthy” and “save more money” are wishes, not resolutions. You can’t tell on a Tuesday in February whether you kept them.

Every idea below is small and specific: it says what you’ll do, when, and how much. Pick two or three, not ten, and change the numbers to fit your life.

What makes a resolution easy to keep

• It’s specific. “Walk 20 minutes after lunch on weekdays” beats “move more”.
• It’s small enough for a bad week. If you can’t do it when you’re tired, it’s too big.
• It’s tied to something you already do. After coffee, after dinner, on the train home.
• You can check it. At the end of the week you know, yes or no.

Health and movement

1. Take a 10-minute walk after dinner three evenings a week.
2. Drink a glass of water before my first coffee.
3. Stretch for five minutes before bed.
4. Take the stairs whenever it’s three floors or fewer.
5. Go to bed by 11 p.m. on work nights.
6. Eat one portion of vegetables at lunch every weekday.
7. Book the check-up I’ve been putting off before the end of January.
8. Do one beginner workout video on Saturday mornings.
9. Get outside in daylight for 15 minutes before noon.
10. Pack lunch two days a week.
11. Try one new vegetable a month.
12. Keep a water bottle on my desk and refill it at lunch.
13. Walk or cycle for any trip under a mile when the weather’s fine.
14. Put my phone on the charger outside the bedroom.

Money

15. Wait 24 hours before buying anything nonessential online.
16. Move a fixed amount to savings the day I get paid.
17. Check my bank balance every Sunday evening.
18. Cancel one subscription I don’t use each month until there are none left.
19. Cook at home on Friday nights instead of ordering in.
20. Keep a running list of what I want to buy and look at it once a month.
21. Bring coffee from home on Mondays and Tuesdays.
22. Unsubscribe from one shop’s marketing emails each week.
23. Put spare change and small refunds into a separate savings account.
24. Write down every purchase for the first two weeks of January, just to see.
25. Set one savings goal for the year and write the number on the fridge.

Reading and learning

26. Read one chapter with my phone in another room every evening.
27. Keep a book in my bag for waiting rooms and commutes.
28. Finish one book a month, any book.
29. Listen to an audiobook on my commute instead of scrolling.
30. Learn 10 words of a new language each week.
31. Watch one documentary a month instead of a new series.
32. Visit the library once a month.
33. Take one short online course this year and finish it.
34. Write down one thing I learned at the end of each week.
35. Read a print newspaper or magazine on Sunday mornings.

Screen time and phone habits

36. No phone for the first 30 minutes after I wake up.
37. Turn off notifications for every app except messages and calendar.
38. Move social apps off my home screen.
39. Leave my phone in my bag during dinner with other people.
40. Set an app limit of 30 minutes a day for my most-used social app.
41. Keep one evening a week screen-free after 8 p.m.
42. Clear my inbox to zero every Friday afternoon.
43. Use a real alarm clock instead of my phone.

Career and work

44. Block one hour a week for work that moves my career, not just my inbox.
45. Update my CV every three months, even if I’m not looking.
46. Have coffee with one person outside my team each month.
47. Leave work on time at least three days a week.
48. Write down three wins at the end of each month.
49. Ask for feedback on one piece of work each quarter.
50. Learn one new feature of a tool I use every day.
51. Take a real lunch break away from my desk twice a week.
52. Say no to one meeting a week that doesn’t need me.
53. Take all of my vacation days this year.

Home and organizing

54. Make my bed every morning.
55. Do a 10-minute tidy before bed.
56. Clear one drawer or shelf every weekend in January.
57. Wash the dishes before I go to bed.
58. Donate one bag of things I don’t use every month.
59. Plan the week’s dinners on Sunday afternoon.
60. Keep one surface completely clear, like the kitchen table.
61. Fix one small broken thing each month.
62. Water the plants every Saturday morning.

Relationships and family

63. Call my parents or grandparents every Sunday.
64. Send one “thinking of you” message a week to someone I miss.
65. Have dinner at the table with my family four nights a week.
66. Plan one day out with a friend each month.
67. Write birthday cards by hand this year.
68. Put my phone away when my kids are telling me about their day.
69. Remember one thing each friend is going through and ask about it.
70. Host friends at home once a season.
71. Say thank you out loud for the small things.

Mind and rest

72. Write three lines in a journal before bed.
73. Spend 10 minutes doing nothing at all once a day.
74. Take a walk without headphones once a week.
75. Keep one weekend morning with no plans.
76. Write down one good thing that happened each day.
77. Spend one hour a week on a hobby that has nothing to do with work.
78. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier for the whole of January.
79. Say no to one thing a week I don’t have time for.

Creative and fun

80. Take one photo a day and keep them in one album.
81. Cook one new recipe a month.
82. Try one restaurant or café I’ve never been to each month.
83. Draw or doodle for 10 minutes on Sunday afternoons.
84. Learn three songs on an instrument this year.
85. Plan one small trip I’ve been putting off.
86. Play a board game with friends or family once a month.
87. Write a short letter to myself to open next New Year’s Eve.
88. Watch the sunrise once each season.
89. Visit one place in my own town I’ve never been to each month.
90. Make a playlist for every month of the year.

Kindness and community

91. Give blood when I’m eligible.
92. Volunteer once a month somewhere close to home.
93. Leave one good review for a small business each month.
94. Learn the names of my neighbors.
95. Pick up litter on one walk a week.
96. Give one sincere compliment a day.
97. Donate to one cause I care about on a set date each month.

If you only pick one

98. Do one small thing every day that future me will thank me for.
99. Write down what I want this year to feel like, and look at it every Sunday.
100. Each month, pick one idea from this list and try it for 30 days.

Tips for sticking with it

• Start on a normal day. If January 1 is a write-off, January 2 works just as well.
• Track it simply. A tick on a paper calendar is enough.
• Plan for the missed day. “Never miss twice” is kinder and more realistic than a perfect streak.
• Make it smaller, not bigger, when it gets hard. Five minutes still counts.

For more, see how to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions.

Get ideas that fit your life

A good resolution depends on what you’re working around: a busy job, two kids, a tight budget, a phone you can’t put down. Put the area you want to work on and what’s in the way into our New Year’s Resolution Generator, and pick from three sets of small, specific resolutions written for your situation.