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This afternoon I sat at my desk staring at the clock as it moved from 12:59 to 1:00 pm. I had already consumed my standard three cups of coffee over the course of a few hours earlier in the morning. And while normally, in another month, I would be done with coffee for the day, I decided to stroll over to an artisan patisserie called Dunkin’ Donuts and get myself a medium black with no room for cream or sugar.
Lots of people would call a coffee anytime after 1:00 pm on a weekday psychotic but this rule does not apply during the month of December. December is just different. “Sleepy” would the best word to describe it.
I watched the hands tick by on that clock, as if they were stuck in molasses, and I thought about what I did this morning. I got in about a half hour before I was expected to, and during that first half hour I made a few phone calls and sent out approximately four and a half e-mails.
How does one send half of an e-mail, you ask? On the last e-mail I sent out this morning I forgot to include an attachment that needed to go with the body of the text, and because I didn’t say the word “attachment” in the e-mail, Google didn’t give me the little warning message about forgetting to attach said attachment.
I only now have just realized, as I typed this paragraph, that I had forgotten the attachment, which is now sent over to the person that needed it. Other than that I honestly haven’t done a whole lot today and it is only going to get worse as we get closer to Christmas.
Everyday in my office feels like a Wednesday to me. Traditionally a Wednesday signifies hope. You’re halfway through the week and you can see the finish line that is Friday just off in the distance. And when I really think about itDecember is just one long Wednesday.
You’re in the office but you’re not really there, ya know? I don’t know what line of work you, the reader, is in. I can think of a few occupations off of the top of my head where slacking off during the month of December is not possible, but for the average twenty something employee this is a month where workflow is non-existent and productivity comes to a screeching halt.
There’s a lot of mingling that happens in an office around the holidays. There are countless parties and activities to attend. There’s shopping for loved ones and making arrangements to get home to see your folks. Work falls pretty low on people’s to-do lists this month and I love it. Give a middle finger to the machine and the man. Rise up and let your voice be heard. Or rather, coast by doing the bare minimum and pick back up on meaningful work-related projects after the new year..
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jduda@grandex.co
Coasting through December then getting upset when my end-of-year bonus is so low — a tradition unlike any other.
Roger Sterling still the GOAT
Definitely coasting right now. It’s 1:20 local time and I’ve done maybe one hour of real work today. I’m going to be putting in three months of 12-14 hour days soon enough so I see this as canceling out.
I was always super productive at the office during December, it just wasn’t work related productivity.
Damn this is accurate as hell. I have little to no drive to complete any work today. I’m going go ahead assume that this trend will continue until the new year. December is for working from home, holiday parties and drinking whiskey by my non-existent fire place in pajamas.
I wish this was the case for me. Low productivity from the business usually means more work for us, whether that means we’re upgrading/doing maintenance to systems, or just that people are breaking shit because they’re bored and seemingly have nothing better to do.
Academia. First couple of weeks of December are insane. Once grades are in, you can relax. That is unless you are the type to submit to journals on Christmas morning. In that case, you finally get the time to do your real work.
One of my students told me they have an exam on December 21st and I laughed at them.
Gotta love modern academia. Your “real work” isn’t teaching the students who pay $50k a year but to do research and serve your own self-interests at the university’s and student’s expense.
I agree with you on the idea of publish or perish, but that is what the Academy demands. As a rational actor, however, you respond to the incentives that are given to you.
Just sucks when you pay money to learn and you can tell your prof. is disconnected or doesn’t give a shit and there’s really nothing you can do about it.
I know the feeling and I agree with you bro.
Dunkin? Duda you’re better than that….
You’re lucky the slow workflow started this early, the first half of this month is crazy for me, then hopefully slowing down after next week.
NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE BLOGS ON THIS SITE.
WHY DID THEY KILL THE PODCASTS.
WTF IS GOING ONNNN.
And replying to comments is not working as it should. This is slightly embarrassing
IT here. There is absolutely nothing for me to do. No tickets coming in, no new projects starting, everything is wrapped up for the year. It’s both amazing and horrifyingly boring, so my plan is try and study up for a certification.
Reallllly looking forward to retirement. Fuck what Gary V says…don’t work hard, they always leave out the part of the story where you die in the end while they tell you to keep working hard and give up your actual life. Work smart and by that I mean start a drug empire or a weapons deal pipeline like ‘ol George HW. They’re closing down the stock market for him tomorrow lol
Lucky. We’re migrating to an SAP ERP system from our current AS400 environment, with a kickoff next week. Nothing like starting a year and a half project in the middle of December!
Lucky. We’re migrating to an SAP ERP system from our current AS400 environment, with a kickoff next week. Nothing like starting a year and a half project in the middle of December!
You’re lucky. We’re migrating to an SAP ERP system from our current AS400 environment, with a kickoff next week. Nothing like starting a year and a half project in the middle of December!