Five tips to ease into the Christmas break
It’s Christmas time again. A time of good cheer, festive spirit, relaxation and good will among all men.
And then there’s reality.
Let’s face it. Christmas is also a time of long, long, long to do lists, cramming in as much as is humanly possible before everything comes to a grinding halt, frayed nerves brought about from juggling too many things, a demanding end of year schedule of School events, Christmas parties and getting ready.
So how can you balance out your work/life during the lead in to Christmas? Here are five ideas to get you started whether you are having one day, a week or a month away from your work station…
- Prioritise; Guess what? The world isn’t actually going to end the day you close the door and go on holidays. There will be another working day, there will be more time, there will be more opportunities. Work out what your top five priorities are before your working year ends and commit to completing them. Anything else can wait.
- Tell people; Let those around you (this might include your friends and family as well as your colleagues) know what those priorities are. Why? Simple. It helps you to stay accountable and not try to sneak in 567 additional tasks. Remember, at some point you must put the pen down.
- Monitor your health; It’s so easy to burnout at this time of year and who wants to spend their well earned break nursing a flu or worse? Pay attention to your diet and try to get some exercise. It also pays to remember if you are choosing a liquid diet that there are more food groups than grapes and hops to include.
- Delegate and get help; You may have convinced yourself long ago that others don’t want to or cannot assist you. You’re wrong. Just snap off one little bit of your list and give it to someone else. Go on, I dare you.
- Set a date; OK, so perhaps you will not finish what you need to get through by your designated holiday date. However, there must come a point where you do actually stop. When will that be? Grab your PEN and write the word STOP in your diary – make it BIG so nothing else can possibly fit in.
You may think this is a tall list generated by someone in a comfortable job with lovely parameters – I’d like to correct you on this one noting in fact it was written as a note to me following the conclusion of my tenth year as a small business owner. I wrote this as a reminder to stop the ridiculous Christmas struggle, to give in and to realise that rest was also important for success in business. Perhaps stopping at this time is completely impossible for you – so shift the recommendations to a date of your choosing.
However you choose to spend this festive season, may it be happy, relaxing and joyful.
I wish you all the best for the season and the year ahead.
Kerry Grace
CEO, RDAMNC