Holidays and vacations are meant to recharge us.  They help us maintain or restore a positive focus and improve productivity.  Nevertheless, we want to avoid too much of a good thing.  A long vacation of a week or more can be highly renewing.  However, we can also lose focus, momentum and miss opportunities.

Retrospection And A Positive Focus

The slow times that seasonally appear in our lives are perfect times for review and retrospection.  Likewise, we can spend some time reflecting while resting during a Holiday meal or lounging around.  The best use of such times is with a positive focus.  Yes, there are mistakes we want to avoid or correct. But, on the other hand, we can adjust our plans and schedule to embrace positives and things that energize us.

Energizing Or Draining

We do not spend enough time considering what energizes or drains us.  Our focus is often on what needs to be done and tasks to complete over approaches and maximizing happiness.  That may seem a foreign idea.  However, it is a key to being more successful and happy.  We may be in a position where we are the chief, cook, and bottle washer.  That is rare.  We underestimate opportunities to outsource and delegate.  We can also find ourselves split over our approach to a task by not defining how best to proceed.

Personality Flaws and Strengths

It is not uncommon to find suggestions on approaching relationships and tasks based on your personality profile.  These are not empty suggestions.  There are tasks and ways to work that drain us and others that energize us.  None of us can do only the “fun” tasks.  However, we can approach our plans with a focus on doing more tasks that energize and less that drain.  That net positive will allow us to avoid burnout. Of course, we may have some days that are better than others.  Nevertheless, a retrospective that highlights what we do best is a critical step in keeping a positive focus.

Rob Broadhead

Rob is a founder of, and frequent contributor to, Develpreneur. This includes the Building Better Developers podcast. He is also a lifetime learner as a developer, designer, and manager of software solutions. Rob is the founder of RB Consulting and has managed to author a book about his family experiences and a few about becoming a better developer. In his free time, he stays busy raising five children (although they have grown into adults). When he has a chance to breathe, he is on the ice playing hockey to relax or working on his ballroom dance skills.

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