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Everything you need to crush your New Year's resolutions
The new year means a fresh start, and for many, that means changing daily habits or setting goals. Even though the pressure to make and keep New Year's resolutions can be daunting, small steps and changes can help set you up for however you define success in 2024.
Whether you are looking to prioritize more movement, to trade your daily social media scrolling habit for reading those books piling up, to cook more at home, or to travel to new places this year, we've rounded up some of the most common New Year's resolutions and the gadgets that will help you actually keep them.
Also: Here's everything you need to get organized this new year
Resolution: Fitness and movement
Resolutions and goals related to fitness are the most common type people make for the new year: According to a recent survey from Forbes, 48% of people say improving fitness is a top priority in 2024. But instead of starting to run three miles a day or hitting the gym every morning before work, you can start small. At-home equipment and fitness trackers make incorporating movement into your life that much easier.
Walking is one of the easiest ways to incorporate movement into your daily life, and a walking pad is a great solution to walking indoors. You can get your steps in during your work day with this under-desk treadmill that can easily be stored away when not in use. It has a maximum speed of six miles per hour and has a surprisingly quiet motor, so the machine won't distract during work calls.
Plus, the LED display will help you get started on one of the 12 built-in programs.
Resolution: Read more
There's nothing better than reading a good book that you can't put down, but in the age of smart phones, many of us have forgotten that joy. If you want to trade your nighttime Instagram scrolling habit into something healthier, reading is a great option. There are more ways to read than ever before thanks to e-readers and audiobooks, so we've compiled some of the best products to help tackle your reading list this year.
The Kindle Oasis is the ultimate tablet for reading since it's a high-tech device with features dedicated to enhancing your reading experience. It has adjustable warm light for comfortable reading at night and auto-adjusting light for when you're reading in direct sunlight. Plus, it automatically rotates for page orientation, and it has physical page turn buttons to make flipping pages easier than ever.
It's also waterproof, so you can read by the pool or in the bath without worrying about stray splashes.
Resolution: Cook meals at home
Another popular resolution is improving your diet, with Forbes' survey finding that 32% of people have make that their goal for 2024. Part of improving your diet means ditching the takeout and cooking more at home. You don't have to be Gordon Ramsey to make a decent meals in your kitchen, and there are plenty of smart kitchen tools to help make dinner easy (and faster).
An Instant Pot is a staple in every modern kitchen, and it will help you be able to make virtually any meal at home. The device can serve the typical role of a pressure or slow cooker, but there are also exclusive functions like sous vide, yogurt maker, and more. You can use your phone to control the unit and use Wi-Fi to connect to the Instant Brands Connect app.
Also: The best Instant Pots
The app has over 2,000 smart recipes that you can click on, and the Instant Pot will start heating up to the proper heat and setting.
Resolution: Travel to new places
If you're one of the lucky ones with generous or even unlimited paid time off, you should be taking it as much as possible. Get out of your comfort zone in 2024 by visiting new places, whether it's that national park you've been meaning to check out or a different country you've always dreamed of visiting. Even though planning a trip and making the trek can be daunting, we've rounded up some useful tools and gadgets to make your travels easier this year.
To make your 2024 trips as seamless and efficient as possible, you'll need a trip planner. Guide is an AI travel planning tool that helps you create personalized itineraries based on your trip preferences. (Full disclosure: It's also ZDNET's sister brand. It's currently in private beta, but you can join a wait list.) Once you create an account, you can input your travel details, and Guide will generate a customizable schedule for your desired trip, with hotel, restaurant, activity, and attraction suggestions.
You can modify Guide's suggested itinerary to your liking by adding new activities and restaurants or by moving current suggestions around.
You might also need...
No matter what your resolutions are this year, a little help and motivation from external sources is always a good thing. Here are a few other products we recommend checking out to keep you on track this year.