The Christmas countdown is well and truly on! With Christmas markets popping up all over the place, it becomes increasingly difficult to remain productive. Despite there being 5 business weeks left until Christmas, many business decisions start to be postponed until January already.
This leaves us asking the question, why are we winding down so early?
In recruitment particularly, the next 5 weeks can make or break our January targets. There needs to be method in the madness and for us to find a way to strike a balance between embracing the festivities and writing off a chunk of work.
Here’s some tips on how to stay productive in amongst the distractions:
Strategic Planning:
Don’t go planning your most important meetings for the day after your Christmas party! If you have crucial meetings in line for December, ensure you prioritise work over the Gluehwein the night before. The planning can work both ways, if you know you’re likely to be feeling a little groggy on a particular day start a list of smaller tasks that need to be done without much thinking and schedule them for those days. This way you have the benefit of remaining productive whilst getting the boring tasks out of the way!
Pace Yourself:
Saying ‘yes’ to every event that pops up is nice for your social schedule, but it’s a sure fired way to burn yourself out. Sick days are the biggest way to lose momentum and productivity throughout December. Try to keep at least one or two nights a week as ‘no plan’ days. This will give your body a chance to recover and your brain a chance to catch up on lost sleep.
Think Ahead:
If you work in a target driven industry, the way you perform in the lead up to Christmas can hugely affect your performance, and ultimately your commission in January. Being able to visualise past Christmas and planning ahead of the game is crucial to ensuring your new year gets of to a positive start. If you don’t plan ahead for it, the first week of January, in particular, will be unproductive. Tasks for that week needn’t be too heavy or serious, but can still be useful.
Hannah Ryle – Employer Brand Consultant
