It's that time of year where we reflect on the past 12 months and aim to forecast and create goals for the succeeding 12 months!

2019 was a truly amazing year for us at OhSevenDays. We moved into a larger studio space, expanded our team, and managed to grow the brand incrementally! 

We're planning on an even better 2020 and would love to share our professional and person goals for a productive, sustainable and empathetic 2020.

1. Cultivate a Routine 
Routine can be highly beneficial for your personal and professional lives. A loose framework around your weekly life is proven to reduce stress, aid solid sleep, increase productivity, support memory, and help you maintain other healthy habits like eating clean and exercise! 

2. Read More
Reading just 20 pages a day can be highly beneficial in surprising ways. Readers of literary fiction are proven to have higher levels of empathy due to the activation of mirror neurons. Readers also improves rationality, mental flexibility and brain connectivity and function!

3. Ditch Single Use Plastics 
Ditching single-use plastics has been a long term goal for us, and we've professionally made steps to do this by changing our shipping mailers to biodegradable bags and reusing any delivered plastics. 

Reducing plastic bags by carrying a reusable shopping bag at all times, investing in reusable cutlery, stocking up on metal straws and cutting down on take-away food deliveries are all things we're doing in our day-to-day life!

4. Buy Better
Before hitting the checkout, it's good to check the contents of the item you're buying. Whether it's clothing, food, cosmetics, or household items a quick check of the ingredients and origin of the product will help you become a more conscious consumer. 

5. Reduce Screen Time
Excessive screen time can not only effect your eyes and posture, but can also have a major impact on your mood! We're reducing our screen time by taking up a hobby that'll keep your hands busy (we recommend knitting), putting phones away during meals, don't charge your phone in the bedroom and get your information in more traditional ways (like pick up a cookbook instead of googling a new recipe)! 

6. Experience another person's life
In this digital age our social groups become more and more homogeneous and all our views are doubled by a confirmation bias! It's therefore more important than ever to develop our empathy! We love the tips from the NY Times article on How to Be More Empathetic 

7. Support Grassroots Climate Action Organisations
Collective action to contend with the world’s climate crisis will only come if people demand it. Whether it's joining protests, signing petitions or donations. While individual action is essential, it’s really about making governments and large organisations listen and take action. You can help encourage that by working with others.