Prepare for a Relaxing Holiday Season
This week I pulled together a post on how to plan now to create a more relaxing holiday season. The post focused on preparing things at home. Which got me thinking about what you might do at work to increase the likelihood of a relaxing holiday season. Below are 9 ideas that will put you on the right track.
Prioritize
- Create your year-end work list. Get everything that needs to be done out of your head, then divide it into two buckets: Before the Holidays and January Parking Lot. Each time a new task comes up, put it on the appropriate list.
- Look at your December calendar. Identify deadlines, meetings, travel, events, and other commitments that could create a crunch.
- Protect your time off. Block vacation days and personal time now before people start to fill your calendar with meetings and events.
Get Ahead
- Start or schedule anything that depends on someone else. Get requests, approvals, information, and decisions moving before people begin taking time off.
- Work ahead on predictable tasks. Prepare recurring reports, communications, content, meeting materials, or other work you know is coming.
- Schedule conversations. Get year-end reviews, client check-ins, planning discussions, or decision meetings on the calendar before schedules get complicated.
Prepare to Disconnect
- Set expectations with others. Let coworkers, clients, and partners know about deadlines, availability, response times, and holiday coverage.
- Document where things stand. Leave good notes on active projects so you don’t feel like you need to keep everything in your head while you’re away.
- Make your January re-entry list. Identify the first few things you’ll tackle when you return to make your transition easier.
Hopefully, a few of these ideas will resonate and can help you stay ahead during the busy season.
Bonus: If the idea of getting ahead of the year end rush is appealing and you want to start some clearing. Check out this post from last year titled “Annual Resets”.
Posts This Week
Tell Me About Yourself? This post provides a framework for the question that is always asked in networking events and interviews. Ensure you have a succinct response.
Communicate Better with this Tip. I heard a great “TIP” on a podcast that I think is valuable for anyone looking to improve conversations at work or in your personal life.
Do We Need Guidance Counselors at Work? During our school years, we had guidance counselors to help us with all kinds of things as we moved through transitions. This post explores that at work.
Book Review – Agents, Inc. As we all continue to figure out how to use AI in our work and lives, I found this book to be a great introduction to AI agents. Highly recommend it.
Planning Now for a Calm Holiday Season. There are things we can do now to make the holiday season a bit less chaotic. This post provides over 20 things you can get started on now.
Podcasts That Caught My Attention
The Workforce is Getting Restless. 23 minutes. The Next Big Idea Daily. This podcast provides highlights from two books. First, Paul Osterman talks about his book, Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment. Then, Noam Scheiber, summarizes Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class.
The 60 Seconds That Make or Break a Conversation. 13 minutes. TED Talks Daily. In this episode, communication expert Chris Fenning shares a three-step framework to better kick off conversations.
Your Next 8,760 Hours. 6 minutes. Before Breakfast. Each year has 8,760 hours. This podcast suggest se might want to spend some time thinking about how we want to spend that time.
How to Learn to Love Self Care. 11 minutes. Optimal Finance Daily. In this episode, the focus is on why people neglect self-care and how to build a routine you will keep.
What Do You Think?
Are there things you do early to have a more relaxed holiday season?
Have you started to work with AI agents? How’s it going?
What ideas did the posts & podcasts spark that you could implement in the week ahead?
Marketing Newsletter
This week the focus the Fingerprints Marketing newsletter is on moving beyond transactions into the emotional side of brand relationships. Inspiration comes from a book I’ve recently read and ties to a foundational lesson I learned from my time with Saturn.