New years resolutions and other big changes tend not to work very well because they are big changes and we are very bad at big changes. Probably the most important piece of information I needed to make lasting changes to how I spent my day was the combined knowledge and idea:

1) I ran on habits for most of my day

2) I could change about 1% of my day every month

Doing small changes continuously results in a big change within a few years and most of your day is completely different. You can learn to do uninteresting, uninspiring chores if you just put small progressions towards it.