There is a saying in Marketing that I use which goes “if everyone is over there, why aren’t you over here?” In layman’s terms, it means that if you’re pushing a marketing message or advertisement in the same places where all your competitors are or everyone is, because you think you should be there too, you’re probably making a big mistake. It is the equivalent of trying to keep up with your neighbors just for the sake of it.
The same thing applies to working over the holidays. Most people take vacation time and time out of the office between Christmas and New Year’s. Why? Because everyone does it, right?
For me, I can’t think of a year where I didn’t work between the two holidays. Quite simply, it works. While most people are off, you get quiet time in the office or working on a project that you haven’t been able to commit to because you haven’t found the time. There is far less clutter and far less email traffic. There are far fewer distractions, allowing you to focus on the things you need to get done or want to get done. You can use the time to play catch-up, or to set the table for a good start to the New Year.
The fact is that during the holidays, there is a tremendous opportunity to either get your head back above water or to plant seeds which will put you far ahead when the year starts. I never let this time go to waste.
An old coworker of mine years ago questioned my thinking on this. He said “why would you want to work when no one else is, it’s dead!?!” I said, “you should try it once and tell me what you think.” Years passed. I got a note from him after last holiday season, and he happened to have used up all his vacation time during the year leaving him with no time off during the holidays. So he worked. In his note to me, he said “now I know what you mean, I feel much less stressed and I feel like I have very firm goals set for the New Year. For once, I feel ahead of the game and actually energized.”
Most people, including me, have family obligations around holiday time. But in today’s world, it is easier than ever to get a considerable amount of work done on the road or away from the office. I use this time every year to not just get caught up, but to actually make progress on the blueprint I set every Fall (as I’ve written about).
Trust me, it works. Doing something – like work – when no one else is puts you in a much stronger position going forward when everyone comes back from the holidays and is stressed from the backlog of work and emails.
Try it sometime. Not following the majority is effective when it comes to progress, and work during the holidays is just another example.
