Monday, October 5, 2015

Surviving the Holidays





So pretty soon here we'll be in Holiday season once more. I know nobody likes thinking about it - especially this early - but what happens when it's the middle of November and a big deadline is looming and you've been so distracted with planning planes tickets home for Thanksgiving that you forget that your book needs to be at the printers last week?

Ouch.

Well, the best way I know of avoiding this scenario is planning ahead and setting boundaries.

The biggest part of planning ahead for me is knowing that I will be less productive during this season. Colder winter weather always brings me down, so I anticipate a few more free hours than normal just keeping positive. I do this by hanging out with friends more, by allowing myself more time on tasks and by just having some ME Time.

I make it a point NOT to work on holidays, like any other job. This more or less solves my problems for the second point - setting boundaries. Since I avoid working on holidays this lets me hang out when others also have more time off. (Of course this is easier said than done sometimes)

That's all nice sounding, but what happens when you're already THERE? When it's already the 11th hour and stuff needs to start magically getting done??

This my friends, is when we prioritize and out source.

First apologize to everyone around you. Next, look at the things you need to do or have done first. Focus on one thing at a time to decrease the overwhelm. Shut off Facebook and Twitter. You don't need to be reminded about everyone else having a great time skiing when printers are waiting.
If it's something you don't need to do - consider asking for help. There is absolutely no shame in collaborating or admitting you are human. Be reasonable. If it's a MASSIVE thing, scale it back into something that is manageable. Quality over quantity is a real thing. I know I'd rather see one awesome thing than a wave of boring, badly constructed things.

Lastly, don't hurt yourself for "failing." Failure is a good thing - refer to my PD1 audition on Youtube - you learn a lot more from it than from what you do right. Ask questions and have an extra sugar cookie - because YOU are going to keep doing awesome things. :)

No comments:

Post a Comment