For many of us, especially as working women, finishing the year strong is an important priority. It can also be a quite the burden, as the end of the year is a stressful time. Not only is it sometimes instrumental to our success at work and in life, but the pressure of the coming holidays also adds to the general sense of overwhelm.
I used to dread the last quarter of the year thinking about the holidays, performance reviews, year-end commitments, and other obligations would have me breaking in hives at the drop of a hand. It took a long time for me to sit down with me, myself and I, and start trying to find ways to finish the year strong and reduce the stress at year-end.
Related: How to deal with office stress during the holidays
Here are seven tips that can help you finish this your strong:
Make an inventory of what you have accomplished so far
It always helps to start with the good stuff. What have you succeeded at so far in the year? What have your accomplishments been? Taking stock of your successes not only helps put perspective in your journey; but it also helps you visualize where you stand in terms of the goals you set at the beginning of the year. I like to sit with a piece of paper and a pen as I enter the last quarter of the year and take stock of my accomplishments, as a way to boost myself up and to see how many of my goals I have actually met. It also gives me a good sense of how far I have to go for the remainder of the year.
While it’s important to take stock of your successes and celebrate, it’s crucial to understand everything you have learned in the course of the year. This may come as a result of failures, learning experiences and your overall journey as a whole. I like to keep a running tally of everything I learned through every project I tackle in my work and my business. This is very helpful for me to take stock of my progress, but also a performance review time when I actually have to discuss this progress throughout the year.
Make an inventory of what you need to finish
Now that you’ve taken stock of your accomplishments, it’s time to consider what you need to finish to achieve your goals for the year. Which projects have been lagging behind and do you need to complete? Which major goals are unfinished and need you to push forward before the year ends? Are there any new commitments you need to attend to?
As I approach and enter every quarter, especially the last quarter of the year, it’s important for me to make a list entitled “To Finish”. These are the important commitments and projects that need to absolutely be completed by the end of the year.
Clean Your Networking Database
The last quarter of the year is also a great time to attend to your networking efforts. A large part of this is to update and clean your networking database, which is basically the list of all your networking contacts. Which recent contacts have you not yet added to your networking database? Which contacts have you not kept touch with in more than six months? Which contacts may you need to remove from your networking database?
Related: 7 ways to Refresh Your Networking List
Cleaning your networking contacts database is key to finishing the year strong, as it will help you strengthen your networking relationships. This will come in handy as you approach the end of the year.
Schedule a feedback session
Feedback is a powerful tool to assess your progress and how much further you have to go to finish the year strong. It’s one thing to assess your own progress, and take stock of your accomplishments and lessons learned; it’s another to have the perspective of someone else on it.
Related: 4 ways to leverage the power of feedback in your career
Schedule some time with your managers to go over your performance and get some feedback. However, you don’t have to limit yourself to just your managers. You can also schedule some time with your co-workers and team members to conduct informal feedback sessions. Having various people’s perspective on your work can help you enormously in adjusting your performance and finishing the year strong.
Related: 7 Easy Steps to Prepare for a Stellar Performance Review this Year
Plan to ask for more.
The end of the year is a great time to start thinking about a pay raise or improvement in your salary while you still have time. Schedule a time to discuss this with your managers. However this has to be a different time then when you schedule your performance review.
Related: Forget Karma, How to ask for a raise (even as a woman)
Asking for a raise or other additional benefits during the last quarter is key to securing your professional future as you get ready to start a new year. It’s also a strategic time as you’re able to gather what you have accomplished so far, as well as your lessons learnt, so as to make a better case for yourself.
Related: How to make more money without leaving your job
Prepare your year-end communications.
Year-end is a great time for strategic communications, from end-of-year plans and announcements to holiday mailings. As you enter the last quarter, think of drafting your year-end communications before the busyness of the holidays takes over. Take time to carefully craft these and schedule these ahead of time.
