16 December 2022
Hey luv,
Happy Focus Friday!
Working during the holidays can be tricky, right?
Year-end parties, shopping for friends and family, hosting events at home, making travel plans — the holidays bring a slew of activities, and trying to keep track of everything could be challenging. Keeping your focus at work while juggling all of these responsibilities. You’d be better off wrapping presents with your eyes closed.
Vacation stress can frequently lead to productivity distractions and decreased productivity. For one thing, many employees try to fit in their personal holiday tasks during the workday. Furthermore, the holiday season is one of the busiest vacation periods for managers and executives.
If you’re losing motivation or having difficulty staying focused at work, these simple efforts to keep focused at work should help you get back on track:
Keep your personal obligations at home:
Personal vacation errands are the most distracting aspect of the season, so keep them at home. Let’s face it: no one can fully concentrate on two important tasks simultaneously. One or both will eventually suffer, reducing your work productivity. So to make the best use of your time, separate the two areas.
Avoid multitasking whenever possible:
Yes, professionals must be able to work on multiple projects at once, but just as you must separate your professional and personal tasks, you must choose which projects are multitask-friendly. Trying to cram two or three projects into one workday is never worthwhile.
You may believe that rushing through work saves time for holiday planning, but in reality, rushing through work increases the likelihood of making a mistake. If this happens and you must redo the work, you will waste even more time. So, if you have a large project coming up, take it on one at a time for maximum efficiency.
Start organizing your workload:
Before the holiday season begins, you must stay focused at work, sit down with a pen and paper, and list the tasks you need to complete. Then, start taking those ideas and planning a few items for each day. A comprehensive list of tasks will help you relax, and breaking up your to-do list into smaller pieces will make it more manageable.
Nothing looks as bad on paper as it does in your head.
Begin every day with a clean slate and a level head:
Stress accumulates quickly, so don’t carry it from one day to the next. Mark off your completed activities each night and take some time to breathe — enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishing your goals. Consider your day’s plans the following morning. Instead of worrying about the future, concentrate on the tasks at hand. Taking things one day at a time reduces anxiety and stress, which will help you stay focused in the long run.
Resist the temptation to overcommit:
Volunteering to take on new projects at work is a good thing because it demonstrates initiative and flexibility. However, this may not be the best time of year to add extra work to your schedule. So resist the urge to take on new responsibilities. Instead, explain to your co-workers that you’ve committed a certain number of hours to work-related projects and that you’ll need the remaining time to complete your holiday obligations.
Remember:
Not overcommitting also applies to holiday activities, whether personal or organized by your company. For example, declining an invitation to an extra holiday party or cookie exchange is OK, just as you may have to decline to take on new tasks at work. The extra time you’ll have can be used to tackle some of your existing responsibilities or get some extra rest, both of which will help you focus when you return to work the following day.
It’s almost time to countdown the days to the holiday season.
How are your vacation plans coming along?
Talk to you soon,
Jeanetta Cardine
