Do You have a December List of Dread? How to have a Productive Winter Break

Do you have a December List of Dread? These are the tasks you may have been putting off but need to do by the end of the calendar year or before the start of the January term. These tasks are often boring, at times frustrating, and may feel like they will be time-consuming (but might not be when you finally do them).  

One study, although unanimously rejected during peer review because of questionable research methods, reports that writing a letter to Santa does not trick elves into doing these tasks. 

In other words, we must do our own dreaded work. 

If you have one of these lists, the goal is to control this list so that it does not take up your winter break. 

This December, I challenge you to try to clear your December List of Dread by making a list, checking it twice, and finishing it as fast as possible so that you can spend the rest of winter break working on a project important to you. 

To get started, jot two lists:  

1) December List of Dread: Tasks that you need to do. This list is just a clear-the-decks list. Don’t include get-ahead work or work on your project. 

2) Project List: Tasks related to the project you want to work on over break.  

Do not put extra work on your December list. Stick with the tasks that must be done. 

Look for overlaps. For instance, if you need to return a book to the library as part of your December list and you need to pull a few books for your project, do those at the same time.  

Set a time to do your December List. Can you finish these tasks in one or two days? By corralling them into a short timeframe, you can stop dreading them and make space to think about and work on your project.