A full day's work in half a day

24 December 2008

Even though I’m not going anywhere or doing much for Christmas (besides being a dinner guest), I woke up this morning thinking, “Hey it’s Christmas Eve Day. I don’t want to work.” So I decided to take a half day off.

But I still have these things I want to finish before Christmas—I want to check off some tasks on my to-do list so I don’t have to bother next week, which is my big Closure and Planning Week.

So I created a list of things I need to do before I can call it a day today. My goal is to finish them by noon ~~or perhaps 1:00~~. (Noon! No mamby pamby goals.) The funny thing is that it’s really the same list I’d have made if I were planning to work the full day. But I’ve injected a little competition into the scenario, in a way. I’ve pitted work against play (for me, play will be knitting, watching movies, and working on New Year’s cards on this rainy day). The longer I’ll work, the less I’ll play. So I’d better get busy.

I feel myself kind of excited to plow through my list. And I know I’m going to have laser focus, because I want to achieve this goal. (I’m getting a good start by spending only ten minutes writing a blog post today.)

Gosh, if this works, I’m going to have to try it more often!

I think I’m truly going to take the day off tomorrow, so no blog post. If you celebrate Christmas, please allow me to wish you a Merry Christmas. If you don’t, enjoy a stress-free day off (assuming you get a day off). I’ll reconnect here on Friday.

ETA: It’s 10:52 and I’ve just crossed the last thing off my list. Time to close up shop until the 26th!

Tagged with: motivation, time management