If there is one thing that the holiday season guarantees, it is a sense of not knowing what time it is, what day it is, where you are, what you are supposed to be doing, sometimes even what your own name is! That strange period between Christmas and the New Year is like an activity no man’s land, which is why it can be such a shock to the system when work suddenly comes calling! Here is how to regain your focus after the festive season.
Try to think of the time you spend at work as an investment in your development and future. The more time you waste after the holidays, the more time you are wasting in terms of your future success. The quicker you can snap back into work mode, the more productive you will be, and the more productive you can be at the start of the year, the better is going to turn out!
Take some time to reflect on the year that has just gone, all of the fun that you have and success that you had, rather than mourning the loss of the Christmas period. When you remember all of the things that you did outside of December, you will be more motived to kick start the year and look forward to doing some of those things again.
Don’t go into the new year with expectations that are too high, because none of us are at our bests in January and if you set your bar high and miss it, you might lose all momentum for the next few months. Start your goals off small, and by achieving them in little increments, you will build a confidence and positive for the year ahead.
Rather than mourning and missing all of the fun that you had in the holidays, take up the habit of writing down five things that you are grateful for every day. When you look back on your lists, you will see that those early weeks of the year weren’t nearly as bad as you thought they were going to be!
Give yourself something to work towards and look forward to by booking a vacation. The start of the year can be an aimless and drifting time if you don’t have anything concrete in place, so give yourself a target date to get excited about, maybe a Spring or Summer holiday.
We tend to coop ourselves up inside over the holidays, so a good way to snap out of that attitude is to get outside and go for walks every day. Being out in nature can help to transition your mind to the new phase of the calendar.
If you surround yourself with vampires they will drain your lifeblood. Negative people do not add to your life. They take away. Remove yourself from toxic friendships. Stay away from people who demotivate you or make you feel negative about anything. Surround yourself with positive people who are looking forward in the way you want to for yourself.