Plates of baked goods in the break room, ugly Christmas sweater contests, Secret Santa gift exchanges – celebrating the holidays at work can include traditions that are as sacred as Aunt Mary’s mystery Jell-O salad. However, in today’s competitive workplace, it’s more important than ever to keep focus and momentum on the job.
No one wants to be a Grinch and hide out in her cube for the month of December, but how do you keep focus when the office is swept up in holiday buzz? Here are some tips to help you stay off the boss’s naughty list this holiday season.
Give your calendar some extra attention this month.
- Take some extra time this month to track meetings and appointments on a paper or digital calendar. Nothing is more frustrating than showing up for a meeting that has been canceled or postponed, especially in December. Add any holiday events such as luncheons, parties, etc. and take care of RSVPs as soon as possible.
- Track the holiday schedules of others that might impact your workflow. Anticipate decisions and input you might need from colleagues before they leave for holiday vacations. Do your part to make sure you are not bothering them on their time away and they’ll likely return the favor.
- Check in with vendors for their holiday schedules. Adjust deadlines to cover for holiday closures/shipping issues.
- If you are planning time away from the office make sure co-workers have what they need to cover your duties and follow through on projects while you are gone.
A gift from you, to you – schedule Focus Time.
- The Pareto Principle says we get 80 percent of the work of our day done in 20 percent of our day. If you work an 8 hour day, that’s 96 minutes. Consider “booking” that time in your own schedule every day, to work on projects without interruptions. Turn off email notifications, stay offline, put your phone on “do not disturb” and hang a sign on your door that says, “I’ll be available at ____” to help your co-workers.
- Watch out for multi-tasking. Once touted as the secret weapon of busy professionals, research shows this practice actually reduces our efficiency and can produce substandard work. Our brains are not wired to be doing multiple things at once (that’s an expectation of our culture, not our physiology). Thinking you can shop for little Jimmy’s Christmas gift during the sales meeting might seem like a great use of your time, but might come back to bite you later on when you’re asked to provide a summary of the meeting.
A fresh start is around the corner…
- Schedule some time to review the year and set some new goals. What are some areas you want to work on for the future? Write down some goals for the first quarter of 2013 (keeping them shorter term will help you measure and track your progress).
- If your schedule allows, consider taking time this month to purge and physically organize your work space. (This includes digital files – can things be moved to archives?) Setting up new folders (digital and paper) for the new year can make it easier to hit the ground running after the holidays.
Approach December with some intention and planning and you just might finish the month with the greatest gift of all – a clean desk and completed projects!
Bethanne Kronick is a speaker, productivity strategist and consultant working to empower people — helping them learn new habits and behaviors so their lives reflect what’s truly important to them. Her clients make positive, long-term changes, whether it’s managing stacks of paper, overflowing email boxes, busy schedules, cluttered space, or facing life’s greater challenges. Find out more about Bethanne and her company, SIMPLIFY! at www.simplifynw.com.
