Make the first week easy

There is no big dividing line between December 31st and January 1st. The sun will rise and set at much the same time it did the day before. Wednesday will follow Tuesday as it does every other week. And yet because January 1st happens in a different calendar year, and hence in a different planner and calendar for me, I’m often caught flatfooted by basic to-dos of life. I think about my big goals and resolutions for the year…but not necessarily that I’ll need podcast content for the first week of January and probably won’t want to record stuff between December 24th and January 1st.

So, in an effort to do life better, this year I’m planning ahead. This year I’m getting all my recording done by December 20th for at least halfway through January. The goal? Making the first week easy. I know I’ll feel discombobulated coming back from the break, and it will be hard to get anyone on the phone, and a lot of people won’t even be back at their desks until January 6th, so best to get as much done ahead of time as possible.

Perhaps you, likewise, would like an easy first week back. The good news is that if you know that now, you can take steps to make it happen. If someone is suggesting a nice-but-not-urgent meeting, maybe push it to the week of January 13th. If you’re figuring out a deadline for something, maybe avoid the first 10 days of January. This is why my annual time tracking challenge will be running January 13th-20th this year. Starting on the 6th would mean I’d need everything geared up by the 3rd and that will be…hard.

You might also finish some things early. I know December often feels crunched, but if it’s possible to take on a little extra this week, or maybe work half a day on December 23rd, you might be able to take a fair amount of regular to-dos off your plate for the first few days of January.

I know in my mind there’s this big gap between the week before the holidays and the first week of January, but it’s not really a big gap. Indeed, there’s not really much of a gap at all, so it will be nice to start January without immediate deadlines hanging over me. That will help create a peaceful holiday season…or at least I hope it will!

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