Jog it in...

(or how to to end the year well)

At this time of year, as we prepare for the holidays, there is a dangerous line that gets thrown around far too often*:

‘Let’s get it done before Christmas.’

Emboldened by this line we load up our to-do lists with way too much. We also stay out late at the often regretful end-of-year office parties. For those of us who celebrate Christmas, we then squeeze in Christmas catchups, gift shopping and wrapping, tree decorating, lines for seafood, and frantic rushes through the grocery store. Then on the big day, we might drink a little too much (a little too early), maybe get a little testy with THAT uncle, and then collapse into our Christmas ham/turkey/potato salad - totally exhausted.

I did this for years. Everything would get ‘done before Christmas’, including client proposals, projects, and even once a house build. Then, in perhaps the biggest year of them all, when I’d tried to do too much that year already and had an extreme ‘before Christmas’ list, I didn’t even make it to the big day. At a concert (The War on Drugs for any music fans), I had a little breakdown. Beer in hand, I sobbed during the song In Reverse. When my wife Kaitlin asked if I was OK, I blubbered, ‘I’m just fucking exhausted.’

Since that concert, I’ve adopted a new mantra for December.

‘Jog it in.’

If the year is a marathon, I want to jog that last 12th of it. I want to have energy in the tank as I run across the finishing line. I don’t want to be that person who sprints the last part of the race, collapses at the end, and needs an ambulance to take them to hospital.

Is it a lazy approach? Maybe?
Is the person who gave it their all and collapsed over the line doing it better? Perhaps?

Am I jogging it in again this year, and the next? Absolutely.

There’ll be a new marathon to run next year, and I want to have my legs fresh for that.

Thanks for reading along this year. If you are having time off, I wish you rest, fun, and hopefully a little sun. If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas.

(*This ‘endism’ is particularly strong in the Southern Hemisphere, where we work hard through the year and then take a big break in January.)