Bonus week comes twice a year. The week between Christmas and New Years is relatively quiet for many nonretail businesses. Normal expectations are often put aside as people focus on family and relaxation.
I take this quiet time to regroup. I look ahead to the next year and what I want to accomplish in every area of my life. I take a leisurely stroll through my home and office and make note of the changes I would like to make in the various environments to make them more supportive of what we want to do in the future. I clean and reorganize, plan my projects for the coming year. I finish old projects. I clean out my files. I play upbeat music on my stereo and watch DVD's of favorite movies while I work. I share special times with family and write or call old friends, but mostly I am a hermit compared to my normal daily life. When I am done with all the regrouping, I will be in much better shape to face the new year.
This past year was a growing year for me, with many new experiences. After being a very quiet, retiring person my whole life, I was thrust into situations where I had to speak and lead! I reclaimed portions of my life that had been shut down or set aside for many years. I have mixed feelings about it all. A bigger life takes more energy to sustain and I am exhausted, so I am taking this time to start exercising again, taking vitamins, and taking better care of myself.
Bonus Week is not about New Years Resolutions. It is about course corrections, changing my path in little ways that make me feel more connected to my essence and to my goals, more organized and together. It is about easing the road ahead by filling the potholes before I get to them. It is taking a holistic view of life on every level, shoring up the foundations under my life, and making it better.
Celebrating Bonus Week sets up a rhythm for the whole year, marked by the seasons. Winter solstice ushers in a time for hibernation and regrouping, planning, and laying the foundation for new work. As winter piles the snow on our long driveway, I have no desire to go anywhere, but my creative juices love the quiet and flow.
Spring arrives with new energy to burst forth with the fresh shoots of the winter's work. I am more than ready to be outside and travel! It is an intense time of new beginnings.
Summer is the time for growth and ripening, pulling back a bit to let things develop on their own, or else go on to the next step.
Bonus Week comes twice a year. The other time I take a Bonus Week is around the Fourth of July, when many people take off on vacation. This is the time I do a midyear course correction. Evaluate where I have been and where I am going. How is the year progressing?
Fall brings the harvest of the year's crops of projects. It is a busy time, getting things done before the holidays. I am ready for the Solstice and Bonus Week by the time it comes.
The coming year will be bringing many exciting changes to my life, businesses, www.productivitypublications.com and this blog. Keep watching!
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