January comes right after December

Don't let events and deadlines in early January catch you by surprise

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is a reminder that January comes right after December.
Things that are happening in January may feel like they

(00:25):
are a long time off, being in an entirely new
year and all, but they really aren't. So make sure
your mental model of the calendar is right. Longtime listeners
know that I use a paper calendar. Yes, I know,
but I like it for various reasons we don't need

(00:46):
to go into now. Paper calendars have their upsides, but
a downside, at least for my version, is that the
calendar ends on December thirty first. Anything happening in January
is happening in a new calendar will Intellectually, I know
that the week beginning January fifth is the week right

(01:09):
after the one beginning December twenty ninth, and the week
beginning January twelfth is a mere two weeks after the
one beginning December twenty ninth. The calendar break makes it
feel like a chasm. Something happening on January thirteenth feels
like it is far in the future. From the perspective

(01:30):
of late December, even though well it isn't I get
caught up on this Every year. I have two kids
with birthdays immediately after Christmas, and I would not think
to plan their parties, even though I know that getting
an in demand spot requires booking five to six weeks

(01:51):
ahead of time. So a public service announcement six weeks before,
let's say, January seventeenth is December sixth, It is not
January fifth, when I have come up for air and
am looking at my calendar again. Likewise, as I think

(02:11):
about planning my annual time tracking challenges, which tend to
happen in January, I feel like that is far in
the future, but I have planned other challenges one to
two months out. Two months before January twelfth is wait
for it, November twelfth, but that was in a whole

(02:31):
different year. It just doesn't seem rgent until, of course
it is. I am not sure there's a good way
around this mental block, but fortunately when we know we
have certain mental blocks, we can build in systems to
avoid the downsides. For instance, I now put on my

(02:53):
calendar in late November to plan my post Christmas baby's
birthday parties. I may scratch my head when I see
that entry and first think, but that is ages from now,
and then I remind myself that, nope, it is not.
If you likewise have something big at work happening during

(03:14):
the first three weeks of January, do yourself a favor
and start building it into your mental picture before the holidays.
If you would normally start thinking about a big thing
a month in advance, well a month ahead of mid
January is mid December. There is likely nothing different about

(03:36):
this big project versus any other big project, and you
don't have to do everything. But you might be kicking
yourself on January fifth when you realize how close the
deadline is. A little knowledge and planning can help you
get something of a head start in the meantime. This

(03:59):
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

(04:28):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
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