Holiday Harmony: Craft a Seamless Transition with a Year-End Wrap-Up System

The end of the year can be a busy time trying to wrap projects, tasks, and communications before taking time off. It is not realistic that you will be able to wrap everything up perfectly. Planning for picking your projects and tasks back up in the new year is a more realistic approach.

The day we come back from vacation can be stressful with pages of emails, chats, and requests. However, we can make things easier by tracking where we are at on a project and next steps before we leave for vacation so we can quickly reference it and pick right back up where we left off. For example:

Where I Left Off Template. The template features three columns: Task, Where I left Off, and Next Steps. The first two rows are filled in with two examples. Example 1 reads: Task: Internal Communications Proposal; Where I Left off: Finished First Draft; Next Steps: Reach out to Andy for Feedback. Example Two reads: Task: Professional Development; Where I Left off: Module 2; Next Steps: Need to complete Module 3 by January 15th. Row 3 is blank for you to fill in.

This Where I Left Off Template is a way to thank your future self and ease back into work, knowing exactly where you left off. You can even set a calendar reminder for future planned vacations to make sure that you fill it out before you leave.