What have you been doing during the Christmas break?
Nothing much?
Cool, same here! And I have to say, I am truly enjoying it.
I’d define myself as a person who can never sit still. I’ve practically used all my PTO days to travel abroad, discover new cities and meet new people.
Traveling certainly is an enjoyable experience, but it can be tiring at the same time. I’ve spent days walking through cities and traveling by train, bus, and plane. So I didn’t have much time to sit still, relax and recover from the busy work weeks.
And when you combine that with the busy months of November and December (I’d visited a Christmas Market in Cologne, had multiple events every weekend, and I had a lot of work to do), you can surely imagine that I ended 2022 on a more chaotic and stressful note.
I noticed that I was forgetting about the habits I’d built and the things I was working on. I ate a lot of unhealthy stuff, spent money on unnecessary things, and my social battery had run empty (and so did my creative brain).
My last work day was on December 22nd. After that, I closed my computer, went home, went to bed, woke up, read a book or listened to some music, and went to bed again.
Yes, I did nothing. I took a break from social media, I didn’t write much, I didn’t travel. In fact, this vacation break was the most unproductive one of 2022 — maybe of my entire life.
And I love every single bit of it.
Since I had nothing planned (apart from the family visits during Christmas), I could spend my entire day on reading, thinking, reflecting, and taking naps.
I finally had the time to look back on everything I’ve done and accomplished in 2022 — something I often forget to do when I’m so busy. The free days also allowed me to look forward to next year, setting goals and concrete actions.
My brain was a hot mess 7 days ago. Now, it seems like I have things sorted again: a fresh mind, a creative brain, and excitement about what’s to come in the upcoming months.
Sometimes, it is highly beneficial to do absolutely nothing. So if you feel like you haven’t done anything meaningful today, maybe you have. You’ve finally allowed your brain to take a break.
