It’s the Most [Chaotic] Time of the Year
I love/hate the holidays. I love the sparkle in my children's eyes. I love the smell of evergreen in our home. I love the twinkling lights, the images we share with one another of little ones learning to follow the customs of their families and their forebears. I love opening cards, I love the smells of holiday food, and I even love staying up late to finish whatever unmanageable amount of holiday cheer we have agreed is just right this year.
And, I’ve come to the realization that one of my holiday traditions is chaos. For about half of my childhood and most of my adulthood, the holidays have involved managing multiple celebrations and family members and sets of parents. As kids we stayed with one parent on Christmas Eve, and then went to the other at noon on Christmas Day. There was a lot of celebration, and we were all exhausted at the end of the day. The tradition of packing in as many holiday celebrations with as many families as we can and its accompanying exhaustion, have persisted for me as an adult and mom of three. My wife and I try to pack in as much holiday celebration, sparkle, fun, connection, and togetherness as we can. And always, we find ourselves exhausted, buzzing around like headless chickens, wondering when we get some time to sit by the fire and take a breath.
This end of year frenzy is amplified at work. The corporate world is wired to a particular December intensity. Board meetings and budgets and next year planning and company all meetings and gift giving and meaningful reflection and focused intention for next year into 6 (if we are very organized) if not 2–4 weeks of the end of the year. We have convinced ourselves that this is the Right Thing To Do to, “start the year off right”. And many of us do this while spinning the chaotic plates of all manner of family traditions and chaos and memories and regrets and big big feelings that put us all skating breathlessly on very thin ice. Most years, for me, the ice breaks and I collapse into the frigid realization that I can’t do it all and I’ve spent most of my energy careening toward a break that now I can’t enjoy because I’m so damned tired from the end of year acrobatics.
So, what’s the answer? How do we make this at the very least the most neutral time of the year? A time where we can slowly, progressively pump the brakes and take a breath? For sure there are time management, delegation and planning opportunities for me (and probably many others). And, I think there is room for a cultural shift that requires both individual and systemic capacity management. The “power through’’ mentality that many successful people adopt, takes an even more pronounced toll when the world around us is also demanding our increased attention, effort and focus (not to mention, sparkle, connection, celebration and togetherness!).
What would it look like if we planned for the end of the year with the predictable flurry in mind? That is, instead of pushing forward with everything that Must Be Done by January 1, we calibrated our plans with the understanding of the context that surrounds so many of us this time of year: the hard-earned desire to take a breath, take stock of what matters most to us, and just be with our loved ones. What if we planned so that our teams were able to come back refreshed and ready to run in the New Year? This could look like a lot of things, including but not limited to:
- Isolating deliverables for December around the things that are truly both important and urgent, with thoughtful planning and steady progress around those things that are important but not quite so urgent. December board agendas that mirror this rigorous focus.
- Agreeing to a state of finish for the year for each project/initiative so that folks know when to step away, as opposed to continuing to push just a little bit farther to get ahead of the game.
- Planning corporate social events and even company all meetings for January
- Reflective conversations about the year that has passed and plans for the year to come scheduled for early January. Because it’s hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re still running and pruning and watering and weeding.
- Leaders actually sign off to model the behavior that we need our teams to follow (I took a break from writing this and I sent a Slack to a teammate who reminded me that I’m supposed to be on vacation!).
These mindful management opportunities are relevant every moment of every day of every year. And as leaders, we have the opportunity to really support our teams by honoring the hard and important work we’ve accomplished with some actual space for a very deep breath and focused time away from work at the end of the year. Here’s hoping you all find some time to rest, enjoy, sparkle, celebrate and connect this holiday season. I’ll be doing my best to actually sign off, starting….right….now!
