How to Spend Your Holiday Downtime the Right Way This Year

After all the hustling and bustling, what’s the best way to find some holiday downtime? How’s the best way to actually use it?

Are you planning any downtime around the holidays? You do have some coming, you know. You just have to do it.

But, have you thought about it yet?

You’re going to need some if you’re going to survive.

We’re headed into the final stretch for this year’s holiday season with Hanukkah behind us and Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Day just around the corner.

How are you holding out? Are you hanging in there?

Ah, you’re waiting for that second wind… How’s that working?

There aren’t many things that require much more-more-more, go-go-go, and now-now-now than the holidays. It can be rough. It can be downright brutal.

To top it all off, the end of the year is make-it-or-break-it time for most businesses. So, the boss is piling it on too. Be sure to thank her for that.

So much for a little peace and joy, right?

With the end in sight and some of the best parts still to come, I thought I’d visit our good friend Google Clause to see what advice he can offer for a good finish.

For the curious, my search words were “holiday downtime.”

Expecting exactly zero hits after I actually thought about my word choice… not to worry, Google delivered some interesting results…

Just like Santa, Google knows what you’ve been thinking

The top hit was “Apple announces 2018 holiday App Store downtime” reported on lifeinlofi.com. Why aren’t my iOS apps updating? Not to worry. It’s just the annual App Store holiday break.

Good for them. I-am-impressed. You go Apple! Maybe you can teach old corporate America a thing or two. Um, well… maybe you already have?

Hit Number 2 links to digital entertainer oculus.com with “10 Can’t-Miss Experiences for Holiday Downtime.” What are these ten “can’t miss” experiences? Welllllll team, they’re all the latest and greatest in digital gaming.

That’s a miss (and amiss)… at least in Untucked circles.

Not that these cool new digital experiences aren’t fun… they’re just not what I’m talking about here.

Hubspot got the first hit last year with “20 Productive Things to Do During Your Downtime in 2017.” That same article has slipped to 13^thon the hitlist.

If you don’t know Hubspot, they’re the internet marketing gurus, so you might expect them to show up… (and it doesn’t even say the word ‘ad’ anywhere).

But I take exception Dearest Hubspot… productivity is not something that fits the essence of downtime. Gheez, lighten up a bit, you people are working too much over there.

So just for grins, I took a peek anyway. Gotta at least read before passing judgment, right? (Otherwise, I might be mistaken for a real critic).

Among suggestions from Hubspot were…

• Play around with new technology (marginally acceptable, but you really should unplug sometime)
• Schedule all your appointments (really, all of them?). “Um Lou, hey it’s Jeff here. Sorry, I know you’re with the family and all, but could you grab your calendar for a sec?”
• Make reservations for future plans and trips
• Get your planner or calendar organized for the new year
• Learn a new skill for your job
• Organize your inbox (actually sounds fun, you in?)
• Set goals for next year
• Do any work-related tasks in the morning (Excuse me, this is downtime! There is no crying in baseball and there are no work-related tasks in downtime).

They had some serious winners, though…

• Call your long-distance friends and family
• Learn a new skill not for your job
• Catch up on reading (pleasure reading, my Untucked friends)
• Find a quiet space to let your mind wander* (this one is the best I’ve got, so you can stop reading here, you might not even miss anything)
• Get some exercise in (just don’t forget the relaxing part afterward)

Better than I expected after reading their first few suggestions.

But alas, we need to keep looking…

In its Holiday Time Management Tips post, teenVOGUE, gives solid, simple advice with the following wisdom—

• Enjoy your down time
• Sleep!

The 9th hit on Google was “The 6 Best Ways to Use Holiday-Induced Downtime at Work.” It’s from a site called wework.com. You’ve heard of them, no?

Yes, I’m going to use my downtime doing work, as if I didn’t get enough of that all year long. Go ahead wework.com, take a holiday… I dare you.

Repeat after me… “Algorithm” Ugh!

Inc.com comes in with the number five hit with “5 Smart Ways to Use Holiday Downtime.” I immediately thought this one was a bust because it was Inc.com, but on closer inspection they didn’t do too bad.

Kevin Daum shares his 5Rs that maximize the potential of holiday activities…

1. Reconnect (cool)
2. Reflect (good)
3. Reposition (not bad)
4. Recruit (meh, a little too business-y)
5. Relax (you nailed it, Kevin)

He includes rest, regenerate, and recharge in number five.

I’m thinking strike recruit and add these three and you’ve got it, Kevin… that’s the frequency!

I didn’t have to go beyond the Google’s first two pages for this search to get what I feel like is very good advice for making it through the holiday marathon in good shape. That means I can spare you further play-by-play.

But let me say there were way too many hits completely missing the point of downtime.

That’s the ill I’m hoping to cure with LifeUntucked.net. I’m all about doing well and being successful, whatever that may be for each of us. But somewhere, we got off-track and lost sight of what really matters most.

What puzzles me is that 80% of the first page posts were form business related sources…

…where the underlying theme for spending downtime seems to be how to use it to get ahead.

I wasn’t exactly sure where this post would end up. I recognize the holidays are challenging in one way or another for most of us.

And, I wanted to offer some encouragement and reassurance that among all the hustle, bustle, and extra work during this time of year, some self-care will see you through to the New Year.

You’ve earned it… now it’s up to you, my friends.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful home stretch and the very best wishes for the happiest of holidays… however you choose to celebrate.

* Full disclosure… Hubspot managed to ruin a good thing. They actually suggested your daydreaming be about being your own customer, or your competitor, or what it’s like to be the product you produce. Can’t we just take a deep breath, lighten up, and enjoy the moment? Oh well. They came so close to getting it right.

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