There is something special about making New Year's resolutions. For most of us, making a resolution is a combination of reenergising, refocusing and gaining renewed commitment to things that we have generally failed miserably to achieve in the previous year. It's that time of year when we feel the need to clear the slate and start all over again.

On the whole, I would say forget it. Never set yourself rules or targets on the 1st January, particularly not when you've been up late celebrating in whatever fashion you're accustomed to. You're destined to failure. You'll get to February and have forgotten what all the fuss was about. Psychological research tells us that making plans for change should always be done with a level head, a clear perspective and have a meaningful strategy to back them up.

And yet this year things are, let's face it, rather different. In fact, some might argue that the year has been different beyond any possible expectation. Who, at the start of the year, would have predicted the nature of the economic decline that we have recently been embroiled within? If you did, you would have been sectioned or at least alienated by colleagues and friends alike. Strange times call for strange tactics. Setting a few resolutions could actually play a role in helping to refocus and recover from the past few months.

So here's a top ten of New Year's resolutions, perfect for starting afresh. Pick your favourites and stick to them, for at least the first week back. And as you start to fail, console yourself by picking a few others...

1. Get yourself a new vision. Without a view on how things will be, you don't stand a chance of leading others or helping your team to feel more confident about the future. Put yourself two years in the future and then look back. What is different? What are people doing to make the organisation successful? Who has been involved in achieving the success? Where has success come from?

2. Boost your productivity through more creative problem solving. One of the biggest psychological factors in under-productivity tends to be routine and boredom. Of all times, now offers the opportunity to put the past away and break out of fixed thinking to find new alternatives. Make meetings more varied by introducing new topics. Ask yourself and your colleagues more 'what if?' and 'what else?' questions. Use mind-mapping and analogies to spot different and better ways of working.

3. Be more optimistic. The last few months have thrown many people into an optimism/pessimism dilemma, because nobody really knows how bad things will get. But remember, the things that you have most control over are your outlook and mindset. Avoid catastrophic thinking ('Oh no! This is truly awful!') and try to look at ways that problems can be managed. This is often about identifying one practical, manageable step at a time.

4. Monitor your empathy. At times like this, your team and colleagues probably need a little more space and understanding than usual. Ironically, at times like this many businesses report increased levels of bullying and harassment. Why? Because we're all concerned about the future, and that concern drives more extreme behaviour. Watch for signs of becoming more aggressive and less aware of the feelings of others. Aggression may achieve short-term results but it will damage relationships and derail leaders.

5. Recognise your reactions to bad news. We all struggle to maintain focus and energy when bad news arrives and there's a lot of that about at the moment. Set yourself the goal of understanding your reactions and spotting any unhelpful ways of thinking in response to the news. This is typically to exaggerate the scale of problems, to worry about problems without finding a solution, or just to minimise the impact and deny that you will be affected. None of these will help, so look at more helpful ways to think things through.

6. Enhance your motivation and drive. Bear in mind that one of the biggest predictors of leadership potential is having a high level of drive - a desire to make things happen, rather than allow them to happen to you. So what truly motivates you? Are you really feeling at your most motivated in your role? If not, what's getting in the way? What could you change to improve your motivation?

7. Confront your beliefs. Adaptability and openness are also strong predictors of future leadership potential. The year ahead will certainly require a new way of seeing the world and yet it is easy to be held back by fixed views on the right and wrong way to do things. List ten things that you believe to be absolutely true about your role. Then ask a colleague to disprove every one of them. It may surprise you how easily a rigid belief can be undone.

8. Build your resilience. Bear in mind that this year could be tougher than last (I need to work on my optimism) so being resilient will, for many managers and leaders, be of critical importance. Try to develop a range of simple techniques to boost resilience, such as standing back, reflecting, looking for solutions, maintaining objectivity and looking for opportunities.

9. Improve your communication. A huge factor in losing good people at difficult times is poor communication. Psychological research tells us that, at times of change, people need increased clarity, honesty and regularity of communication. Look at any areas where you could improve. Think about how to improve communication from weekly meetings. Or how you deliver tough messages. Keep messages simple and try to avoid too many messages at any one time.

10. Finally, stay focused. Bear in mind that every action is preceded by a thought, and it is this thought that you can control - nothing else. Avoid knee jerk thinking. Avoid over-generalising. And avoid judgemental stereotyping - of yourself and your colleagues. At a time when ambiguity and uncertainty abound, stay fixed on what you can do to achieve your goals and help your people to do the same.