Tips for End of the Year Productivity at Work

Posted: Dec 30, 2010 |Comments: 0 |

Has your morning commute been suspiciously easy lately? Is your office looking more and more like a ghost town? That's because the end of the year is almost here, and most of your office may already be on vacation.

If you're working this week and next, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the peace and quiet and prepare for the new year. With the tips below, you'll be able to review your year at work, find out what projects are outstanding, and get in great professional shape for 2011.

Tip #1: Clean Your Desk
Starting a year-end audit can be a daunting process, so one of the easiest places to start is right in front of you: your desk. Clean up the mountains of papers that have piled up over the year, go through your files and ditch anything you don't need, and purge your email account of unnecessary messages.

As you go through old invoices, project requests, and meeting notes, you may find projects that never got completed, initiatives that got dropped, or questions that never got answered. Set all of these items aside to address later.

Tip #2: Make a List
Once you've gone through old paperwork and electronic correspondence, make a list of what's left over. Write down all the projects that didn't get completed in 2010, as well as those that did. Evaluate those that are worth carrying over, then write action items for each: the steps you need to take to make this initiative successful in 2011, or what you can do to maintain its success. This will put you in a great position when your co-workers return to the office on January 3.

Tip #3: Look at Your Budget
Now you've got a list of projects to focus on in 2011, but you need to make sure you can afford for them. Take a look at your budget: How you did in 2010?  What's your budget for 2011? What will carry over and what can you afford to focus on in the new year?  (If you're in charge of your organization's taxes, now's a great time to start working on that paperwork as well.)

Tip #4: Get in Touch
Now that you've got an idea of how your year played out, you can follow up with business contacts, vendors and clients about the projects you worked on. You can follow up on items that didn't get addressed, or just call a contact to say "hello, thank you for your hard work, and happy holidays." Since most offices are a little quieter this time of year, it's a great chance speak with those you've been meaning to all year.

Tip #5: Treat Yourself (and Your Co-Workers)
Bring in cookies, organize a pot luck lunch, or spring for Starbuck's for anyone else who's in the office with you these last few weeks of the year. Since it is the holidays, now's a great time to reward yourself and your co-workers for all your hard work throughout the year.

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