RALEIGH, N.C. – It’s that time of year when we excitedly scribble our New Year’s resolutions on a piece of paper, put them in our phone, write them on the bathroom mirror… yet, in just one month, 92% of people give up on their goals, according to a Forbes Health/One Poll survey.

One of the biggest complaints often is there’s just not enough time in the day.

What You Need To Know

  • According to Statistica, the top five New Year’s resolutions are: saving money, exercising more, eating healthier, spending more time with family and friends and losing weight

  • Only 8% of people stick with their New Year’s resolutions after one month, according to a Forbes Health/One Poll survey

  • Time management coach and productivity expert Megan Sumrell advises people to sit down and carve out realistic timelines on what it would take to achieve their goals and make time on your calendar or task list

Megan Sumrell is a time management and productivity coach in North Carolina who left her 20-year tech career seven years ago to help others find precious time to achieve their goals. You can find her tips and content through her time management podcast, YouTube channel and website.

Sumrell says people’s biggest mistakes when setting New Year’s resolutions are not understanding the time it will take to achieve the goals and not prioritizing and scheduling time on their calendars.

“When we get some simple strategies in place to solve both of those, that's when a lot of times we do discover we actually do have the time available,” she said.

Related: 5 tips to avoid stress and save money this holiday season

She recommends being realistic about how much time it’ll take to achieve the resolution.

“Maybe that's going to require you to have 30 minutes a day or let's say three hours a week. But right now, your calendar is only showing that you only have maybe an hour or two available," she said. "So, there's a disconnect right there.” 

According to Sumrell, the average person spends 2.5 hours a day on social media.

Being a former math major, she did the math to learn that cutting back an hour on social media each day ends up freeing up at least two additional weeks every year.

“Think about what you would do with two extra weeks!” Sumrell said. “Mobile devices all come with the ability to actually set limits per app on your phone. So, if you know you only want to commit, you know, 45 minutes a day on a particular social media app, you can set that limit up on your phone.”