How to Stay Motivated in November and December

Businessman being depressed by accounting in his office

Make the Most Out of ‘No Motivation November’ and ‘Distracted December’

During the holidays, it can be very easy for productivity to falter and burnout to set in, leaving you even more stressed and behind schedule on January 1. We at Pentaflex strive to always provide the most value to our customers so that they may, in turn, provide the most value to their customers.

Below, we have compiled some tips and tricks to compartmentalize, prioritize, and dominate in a healthy way during November and December:

Separate work and home as much as possible

During the holiday season, it can be easy for these two areas of our lives to bleed over a little more than usual – coordinating schedules, buying last-minute presents, checking email constantly to see if a client actually responded to your email, and more. 

A lot of this crossover happens because of our smartphones. To combat the tiny computer in our pockets, at work and at home, we recommend leaving it on silent or in the other room as much as possible. 

This can be a task that seems almost impossible at first, but we promise with little steps, you can achieve this goal. 

  1. Start with giving yourself half-hour increments of checking your smartphone.
  2.  Put the phone on silent and place it in a drawer or pocket while at your desk. 
  3. Set an alarm for the next time you can check it. 
  4. Every week, increase the time by ten minutes until you get to a full hour of not checking your phone. 

You will be amazed at the amount of work you complete when you are not constantly interrupted! 

Schedule out your week

Not just your work week, but your time at home as well. If you take the time on Friday afternoon or Sunday night to plan out the next seven days of your life, you’ll never feel like you are wasting time. 

But how detailed should you get? Here’s what we recommend: at work, schedule down to the 15-minute mark. At home, schedule down to the 30-minute mark. 

For example, at work, you may start your day with 45 minutes dedicated to checking in with your team and answering any questions they have for the day. Then, you transition to 15 minutes for email, 30 minutes to work on a progress report, 15 minutes to check up on a customer or two, etc.

At home, start with scheduling out full-family events such as dinner, practice, recitals, doctors appointments, etc. From there, actually schedule out the time to make your gift shopping list, baking that pie for the neighborhood party, and setting up decorations. 

The most important part of your schedule: BUFFER TIME. Try to allot 3-4 blocks of time throughout your day to account for running behind schedule or just giving yourself a break. 

Which leads to our final tip…

Take a Break

Now, we know we might be getting some eye-rolls at this point. Between holiday breaks, year-end reports, planning for 2020, and still managing day-to-day, how, when and why would you take a break?

Because humans are not designed to experience prolonged stress over a long period of time. It actually causes more problems in the long-run with your efficiency, motivation, and even your decision-making ability. 

The good news is that you don’t have to take a two-week vacation to some resort to restore your mental health. Instead, try one or a combination of these tricks to help you stay alert, focused, and determined:

  1. For every thirty minutes that you stare at a computer screen, take a two-minute break and either close your eyes or stare off into the distance to give your eyes a break before resuming. 
  2. For every hour you are sitting, take a five-minute break to either walk around or stretch. This will increase blood circulation to your whole body – including your brain!
  3. Grab a glass of water. For most working adults, the first instinct is to grab coffee or an energy drink. But sometimes, when we are feeling fatigued, all we need is some hydration. You can try this tip by starting your day with a full glass of water before you drink your coffee. 

Finish Strong

While these last two months normally seem to fly right past us, we want to be sure we make the most of 2019 by compartmentalizing, prioritizing, and motivating ourselves, our team, and our customers. 

If you’d like to speak with a Pentaflex associate about how we continually stay at the top of our game, submit the form on our contact us page or give us a call at 937-325-5551.

 

 

Resources

Energy Audit: http://research.theenergyproject.com/s3/brao?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=burnout_assessment

How Work Breaks Help your Brain: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changepower/201704/how-do-work-breaks-help-your-brain-5-surprising-answers

8 Effective Ways to Stay Ahead of the Holiday Sales Slump: https://pagely.com/blog/stay-ahead-holiday-sales-slump/