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No matter where you work, there seems to be at least one thing we all have in common: it’s nearly impossible to accomplish anything noteworthy over the Christmas vacation season. I’ve seen it time and time again… Once the second week of December hits, a pandemic of Christmas cheer hits the workplace with side effects like random snack breaks and a skewed sense of reality.

For those of you that are still planning to put in some office time over the coming weeks, this leaves you two options: Waste away in your office to acoustic renditions of Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer, or pick a handful of mini-projects to tackle while you eat your fifth helping of peppermint bark. Here are a few of my recommendations…

Get Organized!

It took me two years of good intentions to finally take the leap and start “officially” tracking my schedule through Google Calendar. Take a day to set up some calendars for home and work, and figure out how to get everything synced up between your phone and all of your PCs. It’s one of the most useful things I’ve ever done.

Develop Some Helpful New Processes for the New Year

I feel like I’m always saying “there’s got to be a better way to do this,” or “why can’t we plan better for this?” The next few weeks are a great time to do some brainstorming and think through some workflow changes that could relieve some stress going into the new year.

Dive Deep Into Your Analytics

People love statistics; pastors love statistics even more than normal people. Spend some time creating a detailed report of your web traffic (by demographics if possible) to outline the reach and effectiveness of your online efforts. It might earn you some creative leverage going into the future.

Learn Something New and Useful

This is my favorite thing to do during the slow times of the year. Pick a technology or language that you know little about and spend a week or two learning the basics and translating your new skills into something useful for your job. Last year I learned JavaScript in this fashion, and that knowledge has proven invaluable to me over the last year. Pick something you’re interested in and get a jump on your New Years Resolution (I’m relearning Spanish!).

Do you have any other suggestions for mini-projects? Let us know in the comments below.