Vacation Productivity.. and other new years musings

From Liz Uible

I LOVE this week. This last week in the year is when more people are off work, stores are closed, and generally, there are fewer business demands than any other time of year.

Maybe for the first time, I really get why this week is when people reflect on last year and adjust in preparation for the new year. We actually give ourselves time to think this week. We give ourselves time to plan, to organize our thoughts. We tend to be with friends and loved ones more this season, whether home for the holidays, or bonding with other who are not.

I actually did not work from my office, but on the dining room table in front of the Christmas tree. And I got so much planning and creating done!

What if I did this more than once a year? What if we did this in July, too? Or quarterly?

I wonder… does the whole world have to turn off for me to get this feeling of vacation-work that I am getting this week? Or do I simply need to work somewhere outside of my office?

Some efficiency experts recommend that we be get outside of the office for most of the day 2 days a week to engage our creativity. I have a friend who sits in his special creativity chair when it is time to be creative. Setting goals and a vision for the next year takes a level of creativity and open-mindedness that I haven’t given it in the past.

I do like the arbitrary distinction Midnight on December 31^st offers. On that day tomorrow is not the same as next week. You can change. You can make tomorrow different than today. And that is the beauty of New Years day. You can make a new creation and call it yourself. New Years gives us an excuse to be better tomorrow than we are today, rather than just more hung-over. Check out the Motivation Marathon we are putting on next week. Another excuse to be different next week than we are this week…