How to Make the Most of Summer at Work
For many people the summer weeks are a bit quieter than usual. As colleagues take holidays, the number of meetings drops. Project deadlines tend to be set for after children go back to school.
Here are 3 things you can do to make the most of this time.
When you do not have urgent deadlines to meet, it is easy to fritter time away:
- have a few more coffee breaks, or chat a bit longer at the tea point
- take more time over emails
do activities that you don’t have time for when things are busy, but that don’t add real value.
I’m not saying you have to work as hard as you do the rest of the year. By being deliberate, you can still make the most of your minutes while easing back into work. Continue to prioritise and complete your tasks as efficiently as you would in the busy times. If it didn’t need doing in the busy times, is it important enough to do at all? You can then use the remaining time for other things that are important to you. That could include going home on time or early!
Or you could go onto steps 2 and 3.
Building a strategic network is a great way to position yourself. Networking often gets delayed in the busy season.
Think about who you could catch up within your business as well as in your sector. You could meet for coffee one to one. Or why not organise a lunch for a few people you think would work well together.
It’s a great time to schedule when you will work on the important activities for the year. In his timeless classic*, Stephen Covey recommends prioritising “important” things. First do important and urgent tasks. Then schedule in some quality time for important non-urgent tasks. This ensures you can coordinate them on time and have the time to complete them well. Important activities can be:
- work on known projects,
- routine activities, like monthly and half-yearly reporting
- investing in yourself: your health, relationships, growth and career.
* 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, Simon & Schuster
