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Working In December

Whenever the month of December comes around I find that mentally I go into a shutdown state with regards to working. It’s like the whole month of December becomes just one long Friday. Anybody else have this problem? How can you concentrate on work when you have to two major holidays to focus on, vacation, gifts and other stuff?

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Published by Scrivs on November 28, 2005 in Personal • Did you like it? Subscribe! Or Submit it to Blogosphere News!

26 people says things!

  1. Yes. I was just thinking about this earlier as I sat trying to get started on something.

    By John Nunemaker on November 28, 2005 2:04 pm

  2. The obscene amount of work I have to produce in the next two weeks is unfortunately impeding my natural desire to hibernate through the winter.

    By Benedict on November 28, 2005 2:18 pm

  3. Usually I work for a motivated boss. Guess I can scratch that. :)

    By Colin D. Devroe on November 28, 2005 2:21 pm

  4. I find the trick is to say “Once I’ve done such-and-such, I can properly enjoy the holiday”. So get any projects done, and then just completely switch off, rather than screw about and then be “just finishing this off” when I’d rather be enjoying myself.

    By David on November 28, 2005 2:22 pm

  5. It’s happening with me already, but I think it’s because I’m moving and transferring to a new job at the end of this week. It’s been like senioritis, but with work instead of school.

    By Chris Coleman on November 28, 2005 2:28 pm

  6. In other words, those of you anxiously awaiting your acceptance email that you previously thought would arrive this week will likely now have to wait until the new year.

    ;)

    By Mark on November 28, 2005 2:36 pm

  7. *cough*

    By Scrivs on November 28, 2005 2:38 pm

  8. Rule 1: No Christmas music or decorations till the 23rd.
    Rule 2: No shopping till the 24th.

    By Sheldon Kotyk on November 28, 2005 2:56 pm

  9. Sorry, I don’t have time to give advice. I’m far too busy trying to focus on work! ;)

    By Nathan Smith on November 28, 2005 3:21 pm

  10. 15 hour days do the trick. C’mon boss, get on that shit like your designer does!

    By Mike Rundle on November 28, 2005 4:43 pm

  11. It’s the same for me too. Unfortunatly, it seems that December is going to be by far the busiest month of the year. I’m starting a new job and just realized that we have these “finals” things…pfft

    By Thame on November 28, 2005 5:38 pm

  12. For me December is the time I take to launch new projects, change things around, etc. because things slow down. Plus I’m not a snow bunny so being inside with my ‘puter is a better option.

    New Years - that’s a hard one, recovering from Vegas…

    By Tyme on November 28, 2005 6:23 pm

  13. Working for the Yahoo! Store team, we have a policy during the holiday season… “Don’t touch anything!”

    So what do we do? A whole lotta prototyping and experimenting. The reason we aren’t busy during these times is that if we break something, we’re going to piss off a lot of merchants using our Merchant Solutions software…so in turn, if they lose customers, then we lose customers.

    In essense, it’s more like a Friday afternoon.

    By Dustin Diaz on November 28, 2005 6:23 pm

  14. I find it hard to concentrate in the summer, when I just want to be outside in the nice weather. But yeah, holidays have a similar effect.

    By Jennifer Grucza on November 28, 2005 6:31 pm

  15. Like many here, December is crunch time for me. I feel very much like you, Paul, and would much rather be doing not much at all. This is compunded the the fact that growing up in Australia, school break is practically the entire month of December (and most of January), so my brain still associates Christmas carols with holiday time. However, the adrenalin of having sooo much work to do and so little time to do it over-rides any desire to lounge around.

    By Michael McCorry on November 28, 2005 11:28 pm

  16. Try not to think on all the food you have to eat during holidays!

    By Miha on November 29, 2005 5:44 am

  17. Being in the southern hemisphere helps stave off thoughts of hibernation but the real thing that makes me power through December is the monetary compensation that awaits for a job well done. Though in January it’s a fair chance I’ll become a beach bum that will forget what the Internet is ;)

    By Anthony on November 29, 2005 6:22 am

  18. The key here is to spread yourself so thin that you really have no choice. Me? I don’t know whether to shit or go blind. Guess it’s back to work.

    Despite that, I am [ ] this close to scratching my plans and devoting December to learning as many new things as possible. *Cough* Ruby, AHAH/AJAX, more photoshop wizardry, etc.

    By Chris on November 29, 2005 2:54 pm

  19. I have the same problem. It started mid-November for me. It’s a combination of the weather, getting dark so early and everything seems to slow down.

    I’ve got my busiest month ahead of me though, so I will be living off large amounts of caffeine.

    By Brandon on November 29, 2005 6:17 pm

  20. Yah .. the same thing happened to me last May 31, 2005 (when I started blogging) and when I finally get over it . I’ll let ya know how I did that. But seriously .. I’ve been working all-nighters at least one night a week and take off AT LEAST 1/2 of Friday .. makes the weekend last longer.

    By HART (1-800-HART) on November 29, 2005 11:59 pm

  21. Odd. I find I work harder to get things done before the end of the year. It’s a time to go through those “To do” lists and get your ass moving.

    Of course it makes more sense to announce things in January when people are slightly more awake.

    Ohh and finishing your Christmas shopping in November always helps.

    By Gordon on December 1, 2005 7:58 am

  22. I know the feeling. The holidays maybe?

    By The Keller on December 1, 2005 11:24 am

  23. For christmas shopping in our house read logging onto amazon - best way.

    By karmatosed on December 1, 2005 11:54 am

  24. You nailed it. It’s almost as if any project you’re working on feels rushed and you try to push it off until January (when you “have more time”) if possible.

    By Brian Groce on December 1, 2005 4:09 pm

  25. I make a to do list then go read all the past blogs of 2005 on how to be productive and then get cracking.

    By Caleb on December 19, 2005 5:32 pm

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