Surviving the Silly Season
For some reason every year we get caught up in the hype of the Christmas rush. We get these crazy ideas in our head that everything has to be wrapped up, done and dusted before Christmas. I’m sure you’ve experienced it yourself. In talking to other business people at Christmas functions I’ve attended this week everyone is saying the same thing. Clients are putting on the pressure to get everything wrapped up by Christmas, but why? Why do we put this pressure on ourselves and others? Every year life and business goes on and we re-open again after a few public holidays and away we go again for another year. Here at Inspire HQ we’re trying a few different things this year to help keep us sane and productive during the silly season:
Walking Meetings – When we need to have a catch up on where we are at with everything, we get outside and have a walking meeting instead of having the meeting sitting at our desks. We leave our phones in the office and go walking for 15 or 20 minutes. We’re still being productive because we’re talking work on our walk but we are getting a dose of fresh air, some physical activity and on most days, some Vitamin D.
Prioritising our to do list – At the end of each day we go through our to do list together. We cross off what we’ve achieved, we re-prioritise tasks based on what’s occurred during the day and we divvy up who’s going to do what tomorrow. Doing this together as a team helps us communicate openly about the pressures we are feeling and helps to share the load and support each other. We’re being realistic about what we can achieve, we’re setting realistic expectations with our clients and as a result we don’t feel like we are drowning amongst a growing to do list.
Being flexible – With so many Christmas functions to attend, people to catch up with and work to do it’s easy for our hours of work to blow out during the festive season. Then there is the Christmas shopping to do! This year we’re thinking outside the square and being flexible, and it’s really helping. Don’t be surprised if you see one of us out doing our Christmas shopping during the work day, it just means that maybe that evening after dinner we’ll be screening resumes or writing a HR policy. We’re taking a fresh approach to juggling all that we have to do so we can fit in everything we have to do. And I’d much prefer to be doing my Christmas shopping during the week when I can squeeze in an hour of shopping instead of fighting the crowds on the weekend.
We know some of these ideas might not be possible to implement in your workplace but we think it’s about thinking outside the square and identifying what will work in your workplace to improve your employees wellbeing in the lead up to the festive season. We’d also love to hear what great initiatives you’re doing in your workplace to keep sane this festive season.
