No more eggnog for you!
Christmas and New Year has come and gone, and now it’s time to go get some serious work done. Are you up for it?
That’s a good question, and one you’ll most likely keep asking yourself in the next 24 hours – until probably next week, if you don’t act quickly. You might say it’s too late now to do anything anyway, except to just jump right in and make the most of it. That might prove too much though, and you may only end up being drastically ineffective at work.
Never fear – there’s still time to make things right. You may need to procrastinate a while longer, but these steps don’t have to take more than a day to accomplish. Let’s do this one at a time.
Step 1: Relax. Even after all’s been said and done, there’s still some tension left over from last week. Try to ease up and empty your mind of the excitement of the past few days. Go for a walk around the neighborhood. Play with your new toys. Read a book or watch a movie. Sit down and do absolutely nothing for half an hour. The rest can wait.
Step 2: Get organized. Once you’ve loosened up, you should be able to see things in the right perspective. Plan things out, from the stuff you should be doing today until next week. Then, create an outline of what needs to be done for the whole year. Make a list of priorities. Write your New Year’s resolutions.
Are you ready to go back to freelancing after the holidays?
Step 3: Get some groceries and restock your pantry with new food. This is no joke. Although there’s sure to be leftovers, it would be wise to dispose of them the soonest, or at least serve them up every other day. Staying away from them means you don’t have to fall back into that holiday groove – and the temptation to become lazy.
Step 4: Tie loose ends. There might be one or two little things you want done before finally leaving the normal world behind. See a friend – you never know when the next time will be. Facebook all you want – upload all the post-Christmas pictures so you don’t have to worry about them later, especially once you start working. And while you’re at it, tell the world you’ll be wearing your superhero costume again. That way, your friends know not to bother you once you’ve gone back to work.
Step 5: Psych yourself up. If you have kids, or visiting relatives are still around, explain to them that you need some time off to “recondition” yourself for work – then lock your bedroom door (or the door to the room where you have your workstation). Ditch the TV, and instead, plug in your headphones and listen to the music you normally play while on the job. Surf the web and read up on the latest news on the industry. Before going to bed, set your alarm.
Once you’ve accomplished all these, the last thing to do is establish a routine. You may already have one in place, and that’s good – you just have to go back to it. From there, you’re on your way to full recovery!
