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By Karen Adamedes

There’s only a couple of weeks to go in 2014.Two in fact!

If you’re like many people there’s just a little bit going on (massive understatement?) and you’re trying to work out how you’ll manage to fit everything in?

There are all of the end of year work deadlines – “this needs to be done before the end of the year”, “that needs to be finished before Christmas”, “so-and-so needs this done before Christmas”, it’s the end of the financial quarter, there’s preparation for end-of-year performance reviews and the inevitable requests for “can you get this finished before you go on holidays?” Here in Australia there’s an extra urgency as Christmas marks the start of the summer holiday period and the country virtually goes on leave for January. So everyone is running around trying to get work completed before key decision makers and people in the business disappear for 4 weeks and the country comes to a stand-still.

Then there’s the work parties and pre-Christmas networking catch-ups. And this is all just at work! There’s also presents to buy, family gatherings, drinks/dinners/coffees with friends and end of year events to attend.

And if you’re like many people…you might be a little tired and hanging out for the end of the year – looking forward to celebrations, the break from work or the chance to wind down 2014 and get your plans back on track in 2015.

(If you’re feeling full of beans and don’t feel you have too much on your plate this blog post might not be for you ☺)

Many of us are in the same boat and people understand that this time if year can be a stretch. But you don’t want to wear yourself out. And you don’t want to make mistakes at work or let things go that are important – and have any long term or serious implications for your work or your credibility.

Here’s 7 tips to help get through work over the next couple of weeks so that you’re in a good place to start 2015!

1. Prioritize

I always find a list is a good place to start. But a mind map or a conversation with someone genuinely helpful will work just as well.

Work out what is the most important and absolutely has to get done. Prioritize in order, use a rating system, number 1 to 10 – whatever works for you.

If this is a challenge because you have so much you’ve been asked to do – have a chat with your manager and ask them what their priorities are for you to get finished.

2. Plan

Once you know what absolutely has to be done. Plan how you are going to do it. Be realistic and take into consideration how many working days you have available to actually do the work (not many!)

Do a rough timetable of when you will be able to get the work done.

Work out what you think you can do in a day. Then take at least one thing off your list. We always seem to think we can get more done than we actually can (or is that just me?)

3. Delegate or ask (nicely!) for help

If your prioritizing and planning doesn’t get you to a realistic workload. Ask for some help.

It might all need to be done. But it doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be done by you.

Your team, your colleagues, even your manager are all potential people to help you out and lighten the load. You might even find that they are very happy to help and enjoy the chance to get involved in what you’re doing or be pleased that you trust them to do something for you. And if it’s your personal commitments that are overloading the plate – buy the food you need to take to a family catch up rather than feeling you need to create something from scratch, shop online, ask someone to pick up presents for you. Be resourceful!

4. Avoid distractions

Emails, phone calls, text message, dare I say Facebook – these are all distractions and interruptions to getting what is important done.

But they have something else in common – they all have an off button!

Close down your email, turn off your phone (or if that is a step too far at least put it on silent), don’t have multiple browsers with Facebook, Twitter and a news site open. (Again, may be just me?)

Remove the distractions – even if it’s for an hour or two so you can get something done and cross it off your list.

5. Pace Yourself and get enough sleep 

Social activities – work and personal really ramp up in December. Don’t miss out on anything that’s important but don’t stretch yourself to the limit and try and fit too much in. Eat well, sleep well and generally being good to yourself will make you feel a whole lot better. And get more done!

6. Reflect

When there is still so much more to do it can be easy to lose sight of how much you’ve done. When you’ve got a few minutes (come on, you know you’ll be in a line waiting to get your coffee or twiddling your fingers whilst the printer reboots) have a quick think back over the highlights of 2014.

What are the things you’ve achieved that stand out for you? What are you proud of? What do you look back on and feel pleased about?

This is not just about slapping yourself on the back – when you can see what you’ve done in the perspective of a longer time period it can really help you put what you have to do in the next couple of weeks in context.

And if you take an extra few minutes to write them down it can give you a jump start on preparing for your new year performance review or some dot points to add to your resume under key achievements. Win- win!

7. Take some time out to enjoy this time of year

There are lots of happy occasions and lovely things going on at this time of year – make sure you build in some time so that you can enjoy these…the work will still be there in 2015!

And above all else – breath.

Deeply.

It helps you live.

You’ll be good to go!

 

Like more career tips? 

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By Karen Adamedes. 

If you travel for business you know just how time consuming it can be.

The taxi to the airport, maybe drop off a bag, undress to get through security (well it feels like that some days), a quick coffee, board, the actual flight and then the convoluted process at the other end! Deplaning whilst your fellow passengers play a round of ‘wrestle-the-bag’ from the overhead locker, waiting for your luggage (if you’re not a bag wrestler) the line for a taxi, the trip to your destination listening to the cab driver on the phoneand hey presto, you’re where you need to be! My recent 30 minute flight from Sydney to Canberra took me just on 2 1/2 hours door to door – and that was a quick trip!

It’s no wonder that it can be tempting to make up for this ‘lost’ time and work on the plane (train or automobile!).

There are at least 5 good reasons why this is not a great idea – but I’m guessing this first one should be enough to convince you!

Think about this:

Reason 1: If they can read it, they can tweet it!

Or post it to Facebook. Or take a photo and Instagram, Pinterest or Tumblr suddenly become your unplanned go-to-market strategy.

No matter how confidential (or not) your work, or how discrete you think you are being, do you really want to chance it that others can see what you’re working on?

If it is confidential – the results could be disastrous. Do you know who is sitting next to you? Or across the aisle? Or nearby with a good view of your work? Do you know who they work for? Who their friends are? Not only do you not know everyone who might be able to see your work, you don’t know who they know! They may not be a direct competitor but they might think that whatever you are working on is interesting enough to mention to someone. And it may not get shared on social media, but it could become the topic for a coffee or at a weekend BBQ.

A friend of mine recently saw a branding strategy for a minor celebrity that one of their team was reviewing on a flight in full view. They may have been a minor celebrity but well-known enough that if it had been someone without integrity in the next seat it might very well have been leaked on the Internet rather than form the basis of our, “This is why we don’t work on planes” conversation. We regularly have this, along with one of our other soapbox topics, “That’s why you don’t have confidential meetings in coffee shops”.

[Sidebar story – waiting to get my lunch in an airport this week I heard an organizations strategy to field a political candidate to represent their interest being loudly and clearly discussed. I was a little unclear about exactly what organization they were from, but one of the guys was helpfully wearing a t-shirt that had their name embroidered over the pocket. Maybe they would like some publicity but I don’t think that was their plan. What exactly were they thinking?]

Anyway back to working when you travel, the bottom line is – if you wouldn’t tweet it or invite strangers into your office whilst you work – don’t work on it where others can see it!!

What’s the worst that can happen? You lose your competitive advantage? You disclose confidential information? You violate customer or employee privacy? You lose credibility? Is it worth the risk?

If you’re still not convinced, here’s a few other thoughts:

Reason 2: It’s Uncomfortable!

It really doesn’t matter how small your laptop – the combination of the size of your tray table, the recline on the seat in front, your bag under the seat in front (or worse overhead) does not make for an ideal ergonomic work space. Throw a coffee into the mix and you have a potential disaster on your hands!

Reason 3: You need to relax and recharge (sometime…why not now?)

‘Down time’ often leads to your best thinking. Switching off with a good book, trashy magazine (how else are you going to keep up with those Kardashian’s?), favorite movie or TV show can give you time to turn off and recharge. You’ll be more effective when you get back to work.

Reason 4: It’s a chance to learn something

If you can’t bring yourself to actually relax – there are other ways to recharge. Use this valuable time to read an article or business book to learn something or keep up-to-date. Airport book stores are full of business related material. When else are you going to get some uninterrupted time to read stuff?

Reason 5: You could miss the chance to talk to someone really interesting

Now don”t get me wrong, I’m not a plane (train or any other transport) talker. I am much more likely to opt for the music /games on my iPad combo but over the years of business travel I’ve chatted with pilots, business people and even a guy who had represented in Australia in curling at the Olympics (I know, we all laugh about it when the winter Olympics are on – but he was really interesting).

Delightful little interludes that help you practice your communication skills (It’s amazing how much you can learn when you ask the right questions) and give you a little bit bigger world view that the meetings that are likely book-ending your trip.

Personally, I don’t get as much time as I would like to listen to music, so reason no. 3 is enough to justify not working when I travel for business. But even if you’re not a music/TV/movie/trashy magazine lover – the fear of being tweeted should get you over the line!

The Career Tip To Go: Don’t work when you’re on the go!

Working on your career? Why not get our free Career Tips To Go updates? It’s easy…

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Welcome to Career Tips To Go – an online magazine with practical career advice you can use!

It is designed to help you develop the skills you need to achieve the results you deserve and the rewards you desire.

The ability to develop and manage a career puts you in control and provides you with the opportunity to make choices.

Choices about where you work, how you work and the kind of work you do. And to live the career that you dream of, aspire to or simply enjoy.

Whether you are starting out in your career, looking for a change, working your way up the corporate ladder or just trying to do your best job – there are a multitude of challenges to be overcome and opportunities to be leveraged.

Career Tips To Go provides you with the why, what and how to deal with many everyday work situations.

Our articles and resources will cover real world work situations, opportunities and challenges to provide you with practical tips and ideas that you can try for yourself! They have all been fully tested by someone, somewhere at sometime!

On our site you’ll find some ideas to ponder including why career skills are important and what career skills actually are. We invite you to meet “The Selfies” and read about different career experiences in different fields and countries in the words of the people “them-selfies”. These are real people working across the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Their stories are different but many of the key themes and advice are consistent – do what you love, listen, gain experience and keep learning.

Celebrities are real people too (just living a different version of real than the rest of us) and we’ve put the celebrity spotlight on a few to hear their wise words and career advice. From Big Bang actor, Mayim Bailik (Amy Farrah Fowler) to R&B Artist, Usher to comedian Stephen Fry the messages will resonate with many of us when we think about our own careers.

We’d love it if you subscribe to our free Career Tips To Go updates via email which will include ideas, how-to’s, solutions to career dilemmas and everyday work challenges, reminders (about stuff we know you know but forget when you’re in the middle of being  crazy busy at work) and hopefully, a little bit of inspiration. Go on, it will be just like having a mentor in your mailbox!

And of course we are on Facebook and Twitter if you’d like to follow the adventure of Career Tips To Go (life has to be an adventure doesn’t it?) We’d love to hear what you think, topics you’d like to see posts about and to hear your tips and successes.

Read, think about, try the career tips, and you’ll be good to go…

We’re off and running and look forward to having you with us.

– Karen