What To Do In The Down Time

This is my favorite week of work for the year, between Christmas and New Years. I'm not a huge fan of the holidays with all of the traveling and family dynamics, things can get pretty crazy. But at work it is just the opposite, so many people take the week off that I'm free to set my own agenda. Very few meetings are scheduled, if any. Fewer people around mean fewer problems to find and solve. It means four days of getting caught up because not as much new stuff coming in. It means getting to organize and clean up task lists, hopefully crossing a few nagging ones off.

It also is a time where I do more reflecting on strategy. What are the things I'm going to focus on in the new year? What areas do I need to work with in my team this year? What didn't we accomplish that we still need to? What needs to happen to set things up for the greatest chance of success?

Taking time off to refresh and recharge is a good thing, but I want to take time off when I am actually in need of a recharge. This week for me does recharge me. It is an opportunity to get after things. If I took the week off I wouldn't get caught up to start the new year. I would come back on January 2nd and have the same amount of work to do and the chaos would begin anew, no opportunity to reflect and plan. It could be March before I finally get around to really figuring out where I'm going in the new year. Every person needs to figure out their own schedule, their own sweet spots throughout the year to do the deep thinking and reflecting that we should all be doing. Plans aren't just dropped on your door step to tell you how to get to where you want. Each of us are unique with varying talents, desires, skills and dreams. Rarely do opportunities just come along, but even if they do, have you figured out what you should be looking for?




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