Making the Most of the Holidays at Work

This holiday season nearly 47% of Americans will travel, eager to hit the road after a few challenging years of travel bans and restrictions. But what about the rest of us planning to stay close to home and continue working through the holidays? Working in December can be a wonderful gift for your productivity. Knowing that meetings will be minimal, and your emails are sure to slow down, this is a great opportunity to tidy up 2022 and kick off 2023 with a bang! Here are 5 ways to make the most of your holidays in the office.

Start each day with a clear mind.

Stress can build up fast, so let’s not drag baggage from one day to the next. At the end of each day, mark off your completed tasks and take time to breathe — enjoy the satisfaction that comes with completing your goals. The following morning, think about your plans for the day. Instead of worrying about the days to come, focus on the immediate tasks at hand. Taking things one day at a time reduces anxiety and stress, and that will ultimately help you stay focused.

Clean up the clutter.

This is the perfect time to clean and de-clutter your workspace. De-cluttering your desk will also help to de-clutter your mind. If your desk tends to stay messy try to come up with a solution to interrupt that cycle. For example, if you notice that the stack of papers on the corner of your desk is constantly out of control, consider buying a stand-up file organizer. That’s the difference between organizing your desk and simply cleaning it.

Knock out the big projects on your list.

Take advantage of this slower time of year by focusing on bigger projects that continue to get pushed further back due to the short-term projects that need to be triaged each day. The blessing part is obvious — you finally have time to think about these projects! The curse is that staying motivated while working on a big project can be more challenging.

To help with this, break up big projects into small chunks that you can work on each day. At the beginning of the day, set a goal for what you’re going to accomplish and write it down. You can also reward yourself for finishing parts of the project by taking a walk outside, popping into a colleague’s office to chat, or grabbing a treat from the office vending machine.

Reflect on your 2022 accomplishments.

The end of year is a common time of reflection. Looking back on your accomplishments will put you in a good place for your next performance review, whether it’s one month or 12 months away.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What am I most proud of from my work this year?
• What did I contribute to that helped my organization further its mission or make a lasting impact?
• How have I grown professionally in the past year?
• How did I do in meeting my goals this year?

Make plans for the future.

Write down a list of goals for the near future, as well as steps you can take to achieve those goals. That way, you will have a good idea of what you want and will be able to come up with a plan to make things happen.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What is ideal in my health/personal life/career?
• What does health/personal/career mean to me?
• What words come up when you think of each area?