The end of year and start of a new one are always a chaotic time, with people scrambling to finish work before the holidays and the lines between work and vacation often blurring. However, the symbolism behind the new year, especially that of a clean state, signals an opportunity to make changes for the coming year. While for most, this comes in the form of resolutions and goals in one’s personal life, it’s also an opportunity to reassess anything that you may need to keep your business, your home, or your family prepared and safe for the coming year.
Take Stock
It’s repeated quite a bit, but safety starts with careful preparation. No matter what you need to protect, taking stock of your emergency plan and the procedures and supplies that go along with it is a valuable first step.
While subdued compared to the record breaking seasons of 2020 and 2021, last year saw three major hurricanes devastate Florida and Puerto Rico and every new year has the potential to reach those heights. It’s important if you live in an affected area to start getting prepared before it’s too late. Buying supplies in the offseason removes the chance that you’re scrambling to secure your property or home right before a storm hits. Having an evacuation plan, an emergency budget, and a go bag ready are important when the path of a hurricane can change in just a few hours.
Business interruption is an important and oft-overlooked aspect of disaster preparedness, as well. Whether due to a weather event, political unrest, or just a simple fire, you can be ready to handle any breakdown in your organization’s normal operating procedure. The steps are mostly the same, too, but the necessities are a little different. Creating an emergency plan, having site hardening supplies, and developing a comprehensive guide to how to resume operations in a variety of situations allows you to immediately respond and avoid having to shut down.
Overall, the importance of planning ahead is about designing a strategy to reach a desired outcome in the event of something unexpected. It’s okay if things stray from the designed plan, as long as the end result is accomplished. This lets you rethink disaster preparedness and avoid too much focus on following a plan to the letter and more on how you can best solve a problem.
Stay Healthy
One of the most common personal resolutions every year is about exercise and diet. Physical health is so closely tied to these factors, but staying active and eating healthy also play into good mental health. Health initiatives are a great way to remind people about the steps they should be taking, and things like walking challenges incentivize consistent exercise.
Women exercising in fitness studio yoga classes
With a resurgence in COVID variant infections, it’s especially important to think about how you approach health this year. While it seems unlikely that the world will go into lockdown again, COVID infections should still be a major concern because of their impact on people with other health conditions and the long-term effects that some people experienced. It’s still important to practice good preventative measures and good hygiene, and to especially avoid close contact with anyone who is high-risk for infection.
The beginning of the year is a great time to make important habitual changes, too. According to the CDC, 35.2% of adults reported getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night. In a culture that highly values productivity, it’s easy to downplay the importance of consistent rest, but it shouldn’t be understated. Good sleep ties into mental health, injury recovery, and physical health, beyond just affecting energy levels.
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For more information, you can read our other blogs on workplace tips here.
