The Yearly Down Week

Every year, there’s that one week where almost no real work gets done, yet managers expect you to “be working”, even through there is nothing to do. None of my customers are answering their phones or responding to Emails. There are no immediate deadlines for the next couple of weeks. No one is calling me, and the boss is on PTO….but I have to be doing SOMETHING. You all know that week — its the week between Christmas and New Years!

So what do you do? Here is a list of how I keep myself busy on the YDW (Yearly Down Week):

1. Review the Year Its a great time to review what you accomplished (and did NOT accomplish) over the last twelve months, and see where you can improve. Do you have your weekly schedule set right? Being in sales, I review my deal pipeline first thing Monday morning, and set aside the last four hours on Friday for learning new things. That schedule seems to work for me, but it took me a few years of review during The YDW to get that straight.
2. Set Goals for Next Year As part of the review process, I look back on the goals I set during the last YDW and see how I did. 2020 was a year where I missed Sooooo many goals, I’m not sure how to score myself this time! Take the time to figure out new goals for the comming year, and be sure to set measurement points throughout the year so you can score how well you are doing. 2020 is the first time in a long time that I didn’t even get to 50% of my goals attained!
3. Catch up with your Professional Relationships The YDW is a great time to call up past work associates and customers to just say hi and see how they are doing. You’re not the only one having a down week, and they might be open to more of a discussion than during a normal work week.
4. Review the “Spare Time” List The YDW is a great time to review that “Spare Time” list to see if things are no longer revelant, or not worthy of being worked on in your spare time….or for that matter, the YDW IS pretty much some “Spare Time”, so maybe work on one or two of those projects that week.
5. Start to Learn Something New It is a great time to pick up something that you have always wanted to learn and start on it. Minimal disruptions, no pressing deadlines….the perfect time to focus on learning.
6. Or, just Take it Off! I think this is what most people do anyway, especially if you have vacation time you need to get rid of before the end of the year. I personally like my YDW to recharge and re-evaluate.

Make the most of your YDW this year and be productive!