Five ways to use the final month of 2020 year to catch up, plan for future
The last month of the year is a good time to complete those tasks you’ve been putting off. We put together a brief list of things you can do this month to clean your slate and prepare yourself for the year ahead.
1. Clean off your desk: This sounds so simple but having an open area in front of you instead of that cluttered mess you call your workspace can really help you enter the final lap of 2020 with an open mind. “A clean desk is one of the most underrated tools you have at your disposal,” says career adviser Geri Wellstone, who specializes in workspace functionality. “If you use your desk to organize your daily or weekly tasks, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to concentrate.”
2. Respond to your emails: If you’re like most everyone else, you probably have a dozen or more emails that you meant to respond to earlier the past few weeks but never did. In some cases, you may have fired off a quick response and told the email recipient that you would get back to him or her soon with a complete answer. Guess what? It’s time to complete those answers. Even if a response is ridiculously late, the original sender will appreciate the fact that you eventually answered. And what seemed like a fairly unimportant topic a couple of months ago may have new relevance.
3. Update your contacts: Going through your contact list and updating names addresses and phone numbers is not only good for your current job but it can also help you secure future work. “December is a great time to review your contact list. In addition to updating contact information, you should write notes on who the contact is and why they’re important to you,” says career consultant Aaron Sanders. “These notes can be very helpful when you’re looking for a new job. I just had a client tell me he was able to get an interview with State Farm because he noted that a current contact used to work at their corporate office. He pulled that card and used it. And his contact was more than happy to give him a recommendation.”
4. Do a self- review: You may or may not have a review in the near future but going through the process of a self- review can be very helpful when you’re trying to determine your weaknesses and strengths. You’ll probably be more honest in your own self- review than in any sort of selfassessment that will become part of your official file. “You don’t have to over- analyze it,” says Sanders. “Just create a list of your strengths and your weaknesses and give examples of each one. It’s an easy way to figure out what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. And then you look at those things that you’re weakest at, do some research and come up with a list to address them.”
5. Map out 2021: “First, create a calendar that’s directly related to your current position — tasks, ideas, suggested projects,” says Sanders. “Create a second calendar that’s related to your career. Do you want to update your resume by a certain date? Do you want to re-enter the job market by spring? Maybe you want to register for some seminars you’ve found that will help you with your career development. It’s a lot easier to stick to a plan when you actually have it written out.”
— Marco Buscaglia, Careers