So you think there’s no need for someone to tell you how to rest at the end of the year? You are right, of course, but we still want to remind you that:
- The ongoing anxiety about the workload that’s about to hit you in January is not a break;
- Checking your email or work-related profiles every hour is not a break;
- Searching for new materials, offers or customers for your business during the vacation is not a break;
- The temptation to take on a quick order or start research for your project for last this year is not a break;
All of the scenarios above are simply you lying to yourself, stealing your own free time and not allowing yourself to live your life to the fullest. Remember all the work-related tasks that seemed so urgent and bothered you at the same time last year? You probably do — but you also know that you finished them eventually — all of them, even those delayed due to the holiday season. As you saw for yourself — the world didn’t end, but you did lose your calm and your good mood.
How you start the new year depends on how you finish the old one. So if you need more convincing that you deserve a rest, here are some excellent reasons to take a break for real this holiday season.
Recharging Your Batteries
You may not feel it, but your body needs some physical rest at the end of the year, even if your work isn’t physical. Think about all the late nights at work, the weekends you’ve invested chasing your goals and the hours invested in overcoming the challenges 2021 threw at all of us. Allow yourself enough time to rest. If you don’t, the inevitable exhaustion will place you out of order, and you will be not helpful nor pleasant to yourself or the people around you. Take advantage of these days — turn off the alarm, sleep in, take naps in the afternoon, go skiing, go on a hike. Both active and passive ways to recharge will do you good and boost your physical condition! There are not that many times during the year when you can take off a few consecutive days. So why not take advantage this Christmas?
Maintaining Good Mental Health
Long periods of no mental rest are proven to cause depression, burnout and other serious health issues. So, it won’t be just your body that will benefit from taking time off this Christmas — your brain will too! Otherwise, you can seriously harm yourself and even the project you have been working on for so long. Deteriorated mental health can lead to losing positions and progress you’ve achieved, and the irony is this could happen not because you rested — but because you did not! So, to give yourself and your project a nice and clean start in the new year, consider taking your vacation days and clear your mind of everything connected to your work. Watch movies, take walks, cook, see your friends and family.
For some people, the holidays can be just as stressful as working with a tight deadline, if not more. That’s why they prefer to bury themselves in tasks, instead of listening to the endless arguments of relatives or watching yet another Christmas movie. However, this is not a reason to dive into work, quite the opposite. Do whatever your heart wants, as long as it is different from work. You will see how fresh, full of ideas, enthusiasm and desire for action you will return to your duties in January.
Spending Time With People You Love
Enthusiastic about achieving work goals, we often fail to spend time with our loved ones. Weeks go by, and you may also often have to do one job or another over the weekend. We understand! Being persistent, purposeful and ambitious is great, but you know good memories are more difficult to make than money. The Christmas holidays are a perfect time to be with your family. And if they are far away or drive you crazy, you can use that time to catch up with your friends. No one, and we mean no one, will think that you are lazy or slacking just because you have taken a few days off to be with the people you love. Decide for yourself which is more important to you — spending time with your friends and family or making money.
Surprising Ways to Bettering Yourself During the Holiday
Holidays don’t just mean endless meals and lounging. In fact, they are a fantastic opportunity to improve your skills in an unusual way! Here are just a few examples:
- Board games — they not only unite the company/family but also improve our mood and teach us something. Chess — strategic thinking, association games — imagination and cognitive functions; the constructor toys — spatial thinking, jigsaws — attention to detail and improved memory. Most games also teach us teamwork skills.
- Colouring and drawing — these hobbies not only help to bond with the children. It has long been proven that working with colours also helps creativity and the development of design thinking in adults.
- Cooking — even if you don’t usually cook, it’s a good idea to try a simple recipe during the holidays — whether you’re alone or with your family. Why? Well, therapists are now starting to use cooking as a tool to help people and say that preparing your food can “soothe stress, build self-esteem and curb negative thinking by focusing the mind on following a recipe.” And finally, there’s a nice bonus — you have something tasty and homemade!
- Reading a book — it seems that there’s never enough time to read during the year? Well, the holiday season offers the opportunity to pick up an exciting book and immerse yourself in it. What’s more, this time you’ll really have time to finish it!
All of the above are great ways to rest and improve your skills, but of course, you can add as many activities to the list and try new things!
5 Reflect On the Passing Year and Plan for the Future
If baking cookies and watching Christmas movies are not your thing, if the holiday binges are not your liking, you may think it is better to take a little homework and prepare well for the beginning of the new working year. Actually, that’s not such a bad idea, but it doesn’t necessarily mean replying to emails and checking out tasks during the holidays. We have a better offer to help you make progress in your work and not hijack your vacation. Take a deep breath and reflect. Make a list of everything achieved for the year. Think of what to improve, set new goals, create a vision for the new year — not only for your professional but also for your personal life. So when 2022 comes, you will be rested and fully prepared for everything that awaits you.
How to Make Time for Rest this Christmas?
Don’t know how to “steal” a little time for a vacation this year? Well, that’s quite simple:
- Whether you use a notebook or the great features of the Master Time App, be sure to organise the time left until the holidays;
- Call your customers and clients to find out which tasks they can wait for (they also may want to get some rest during this time of the year, right?)
- Finish the most urgent tasks before the holiday – this will give you the satisfaction that there’s nothing important left undone:
- Put an automatic reply on all your work emails and phones. Specify the dates you won’t be working on and stick to them — after all, others also need to respect your time and boundaries the same way you respect theirs;
Enjoy, and remember — you deserve it! Recharge and welcome the new year cheerful and eager to achieve your goals!