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What You Can Do Now to Make Next Year Less Stressful

December 8, 2025

We all have stuff we know we should do something about. 

Maybe it’s that kitchen drawer that’s packed with utensils you never use. 

Whenever you frantically root around in there, looking for the can opener or garlic press, you think: I should do something about this.

Or, it could be a dentist appointment you never schedule, an empty supplement bottle that never gets reordered, or some other task that remains perpetually undone. 

Over time, the list of undone to-dos has a way of growing—and adding unnecessary stress, draining your mental energy, and making it harder to focus on new goals. 

Plus, these undone tasks can make you feel powerless, leading to self-defeating thoughts like, “If I can’t even clean out a drawer, how will I ever stop eating so much processed food?”

So let’s do something about it.

The end of the year is a great time to tackle your most nagging unfinished tasks. 

By taking this One-and-Done Challenge, you’ll be able to close out 2025 with confidence, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment—so wake up on January 1st prepared for your fresh start.

How the Challenge Works 

First, I want to give Karin Nordin, PhD, a mindset and behavior change expert, the credit for this challenge. In November, she shared her personal strategy for prepping for the New Year: a series of one-time tasks that lay the groundwork for how she wants to feel in the year ahead.

Her post went viral, which shows how much this idea resonates. It can help you head into 2026 feeling more confident, rested, and ready for whatever comes your way.

What To Do

Commit to completing 4 to 8 one-and-done tasks before the end of 2025. (That’s a made-up number, so choose however you want, but challenge yourself.)

These chores shouldn’t require ongoing effort or attention. The One-and-Done Challenge isn’t about starting a new exercise program, but it could include joining a gym or purchasing a set of exercise bands. 

When brainstorming potential one-and-done tasks to tackle, consider:

• What have you been procrastinating?
  
  
• What will help you achieve a long wanted health-and-wellness goal?
   
• How might you do your future self a favor?

If you struggle to come up with one-and-done activities, steal from the this list of possibilities created by the Hyman Health team:

Anti-Procrastination Tasks

• Make amends with a family member or friend (it can really take a weight off).
  
  
• Schedule one preventive appointment you’ve been avoiding—an annual physical, a skin check, a blood test, whatever you keep putting off.
  
  
• Clean out a drawer or closet (and then actually make that Goodwill drop-off).
  
  
• Take out that life insurance policy that never seems to get crossed off your list.

Health-and-Wellness Tasks

• Purchase those supplements or new walking shoes you’ve been meaning to get. 
  
  
• Make a space in your home where you can do yoga, resistance train, or follow-along fitness videos. 
  
  
• Clean out your kitchen, so you have a healthier food environment (a great thing to do during the day on New Year’s Eve). Here’s how.
  
  
• Get blackout curtains or a sleep mask so you’re sleeping environment is pitch black(this can make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep)

Future Self Favors

• Join a gym now, instead of January, so you’re ready to go.
  
  
• Start organizing tax paperwork—you won’t be so harried come March or April.
  
  
• Fill out the FAFSA (student aid form), so you won’t have to deal with it next year. 
  
  
• Clean off the dining room table, your office desk, or any place else you stack stuff that “needs to be dealt with.” Because that visual clutter quietly drains your energy and attention every single day.. 

Once you have your list, commit to it and tell someone—a family member, a friend, the Hyman Hive community—what you’re planning to do so you’ve got some built-in accountability. Or, post your one-and-done list to social media and ask others to join in the challenge.

When you’ve checked off your list, take a moment to notice how much lighter and more in control your life feels. That’s the feeling you get to carry into the new year.