It's December, and we all know what that means: the calendar year is almost over, and we're all itching for a little bit of time off as the holidays approach.
But just because this calendar year is ending, doesn't mean our jobs or assignments are lightening up. In fact, the holiday season is the busiest for many organizations in the nonprofit world. This can often be the most difficult time of year to balance projects and assignments.
One of the best steps to take in preventing holiday burn-out is creating realistic deadlines for the tasks at hand. "Rome wasn't built in a day," they say, and leaving yourself with a "Building-Rome-in-a-Day" sized task-list will ultimately leave you stressed out or burned out.
Resolve not to let yourself get overwhelmed by mounting projects in the next few weeks. Make sure you're giving yourself realistic amounts of time for the tasks at hand. Maybe you have time for everything on your plate before January 1, or maybe some projects will need to wait until after the new year. If you're feeling like you can't finish everything you'd like to before year's end, sit down with your schedule and your supervisor and make a plan for finishing all of your projects that doesn't leave you feeling like you're stranded in the deep end.
For some great tips on making smart deadlines, take a look at this great article from Midntools.com on estimating project time accurately.
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