Still working between Christmas and New Year? Then it’s time to get your head down and tick off a few tasks from that to do list…
Not everyone is off over the Christmas period. Some of us will be working during that awkward period between Christmas and New Year.
And according to a BE Offices’ survey, we won’t all be working our hardest. Figures show that only 19.2% of us will be working anywhere near to full productivity, with one in three (30.5%) admitting that their productivity levels will drop to between 25% and 50%.
If you are working during this time, here are a few tasks you can get on with to keep your productivity levels up…
1. Catch up on your ‘to do’ list
We’ve all got a ‘to do’ list. Some of us might have tried to get it all done and out of the way before Christmas.
But not all. In fact, our survey found that more than a quarter of us (27.5%) will be working on ticking off a few tasks on the to-do list in between Christmas and New Year.
It’s a good time to do it as you’ll probably have fewer outside requests for work and will be able to focus on the tasks at hand.
2. Sort out your desk
Over a year, you can accumulate plenty of items on your desk. A cup full of pens, a pile of papers that you might or might not need, Post It notes dotted around your computer screen.
This period is a great time to sort out and tidy your desk. Not only should you be going through the endless paperwork, but you can also give it a clean.
And maybe it’s time to invest in some new desk furniture like an actual pen holder or a proper in tray. The January sales are a great time to do this.
3. Create a planner
The organised among us will have all this past year’s tasks completed and can use this time to start thinking about next year. In fact, our survey found that 25.4% of us will be using the time to plan ahead.
You can start by making a monthly calendar and write in the big events or projects that you know about. Or go smaller and simply look at what needs doing in January.
You can also plan your work-related New Year’s resolution, whether it’s sales goals or areas of or you’d like to improve in the year ahead.
4. Tidy up your inbox
There’s nothing worse than coming back in January and seeing endless emails in your inbox. This time is a great period to go through all these emails and sort them out.
This task is one of the most popular uses of time, with 29.9% planning to tidy up their inbox.
Not only can you delete all unnecessary emails, but you could unsubscribe to newsletters that you no longer need, add key clients to your address book, and create rules for specific people so you never miss their email again.
5. Get ahead of the game
Finally, you could actually, you know, do some work. If you know what needs doing in January, now is a great time to get ahead of the game.
Not only will this make coming back in the new year much easier, it’ll set you on the right path for the year. You won’t return in the New Year feeling like you’re in catch up mode, but will be reveling in the extra time to push your business and move things forward.
