Have you ever thought about the impact that Christmas Holidays have on Productivity?

 



 

We all know that holidays are a great period, when families gather to spend more time together, people buy gifts for their loved ones, everyone is celebrating and the work productivity....decreases.

As an employee it;s normal for you to feel more tired at the end of the year and tend to daydream of holidays, Christmas parties or rest.

It is not a surprise that you are less productive around holidays, the true problem is that your productivity tends to decrease two weeks before Christmas and it continues the next two weeks in January, according to various researches made by deeply PRODUCTIVITY professionals.

Distractions met during the month of December as parties and celebrations, legal holidays, extra vacation, bowl games, shopping and presents, and most of all, the pressure you feel to meet the holiday expectations of those around you can cause serious stress times and you can easily loose the focus and concentration you need at your work, resulting in a decresed productivity and poor results.

So, what can you do in order to spend some great holidays with your family and also mantain an adequate level of your work productivity?

First of all, you should make a list with the most important tasks you must finish and the period of time you assign to each task.

Having your time management well balanced, will give yourself the right amount of time to complete your projects and make extra time for your family and friends.

One of the greatest tools that I have personally tried and that will help you get organized and avoid things getting out of control is WorkMeter, a software that will help you make objective decisions based on real facts, bringing performance and high results in you work. If you want to find out about the benefits WorkMeter brings and how it works please read carefully the information presented in its official site: www.workmeter.com

Secondly you should let your collegues and clients know what;s going to be your scheduele at least with two weeks before Christmas, so they will not come with demands in the last minute. Before you leave let your clients know who is the person that;s going to replace you during your absence, otherwise you risk being called during the holidays and you will have to do all your Christmas shopping in the last minute and in a non-traditional manner, similar to the people in the video below:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L0hZGO94ac

 

 

 

In order to avoid such situations, you can 1) update your calendar and note any important event or meeting that you do not want to miss and have to postpone it for later.

2) Secondly, if your inbox sometimes grabs you by the neck and suffocates you, don;t you think that during Christmas things will change or improve, actually it;s going to be worse. Advertisments, Christmas greetings, special offers, these are just some of the "buddies" that will keep company to your daily work mails.

It is a good idea cleaning your Inbox before and especially after Christmas, so you will start the new year with a fresh inbox and a fresh mind.

3)Traveling during holidays is not one of the best options, because the airports are stuffier, there isn't a seat to be had, constant announcements, gate changes and delays, just the kind of things you really want to avoid during holidays. If yet is extremely necessarily for you to travel during holidays, prepare yourself for worst case scenarios: keep the airline's reservations office number with you in case your flight is going to be

canceled and call the airline, or download from the airline's site, to find out their policy in case of delays, before you buy your plane ticket.

4) And last, but not least, don;t forget that Christmas is a time to be happy and leave behind all the problems and worries you dealed with during the year, so simply enjoy these holidays with the people you most love.