What are we doing here again?

January can be a confusing time after the excitement of Christmas. Here's how to get back into "it" and grab January by the scruff of the neck.

Martin Prior

Jan 05, 2024

In Never Stop Learning this week I will be covering the following 1-2-3:

One Big Thing - a re framing of January that amazingly miserable and wonderful month.
Two Recommendations - a video on building micro habits instead of new years resolutions and an inspiring podcast to listen to.
My Top 3 articles of the week

Enjoy.

One Big Thing: What are we doing here again?

January 2nd was dark, wet and windy here in London.

I woke up at half 6. I was actually pretty proud of that. I wanted to hit the ground running.

For that first day back in the office I wanted to make sure I was going into it with momentum but to be honest I faffed around quite a bit between the alarm going off and doing anything particularly productive.

I emptied the dishwasher. That would help get the momentum going. For if nothing else was achieved in the next hour then at least the kitchen was tidied.

I then did something I was even more proud of. I went for a run in the semi dark. It was still raining and the mud was….well…actually quite fun. Ha.

I made a big thing last year of the mantra “daylight before screen light” and the muscle memory of this served me well - despite the lack of light!

This isn’t me but it was as much fun as this. Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

So back from the run and setting down at the laptop I could hear its fan start to wiz into action. It could sense that the next few hours were going to be tough. It got some early cooling under its belt. Very wise.

The first thing I realised was that we had a team meeting in 20 minutes time and, as one of the team leaders, I was expected to give an update on where we were with various projects and the plans for the next few weeks.

Ouch.

This was going be difficult.

The two weeks of Christmas were already a blur but thinking about what I was doing at work before those excesses was a mere spec in my mind. Squint hard enough and you could just about make out that spec but working out what form it took was almost impossible.

So this was a fun start to the year. A looming meeting where I’m going to look pretty silly for not having much to say. Stress started to build.

Think!

Clear the mind. What do we have to hand that can get us through this?

Ah yes, I remembered. I’d been kind to myself in those heady weeks before Christmas where we’d compiled a draft list of big projects for the coming 6 months. This was it.

Stress started to subside.

So that’s what I did. Eyes came to me and I popped up a couple of slides with those projects and I managed to talk around them for a couple of mins. Done. Seamless.

Lesson 1: Don’t panic. There’s always something to say. Just stay cool and the ideas will flow. Work with what you’ve got.

While I was mainly focused on making sure I didn’t look like an idiot in the meeting I also noticed something about everyone else. They were also bleary eyed and looking a little confused. This prompted a couple more lessons from this meeting.

Lesson 2: Everyone is in the same boat. Everyone struggles at the start of January and that’s ok. Just be nice and supportive and we will all get through this.

Lesson 3: Most people are just focused on themselves anyway. Your team are looking to you to be a human and give them a little direction in the dark. They certainly aren’t turning up to laugh at your incompetence. They are just looking for someone to say it’s going to be ok.

So, my message to you is - it’s going to be ok.

To thrive in January we need to do a little re framing

January is tough time. Most days are cold and damp. Spring feels like a long way off and all the fun is in the rear view mirror.

But the thing is, January will pass soon enough. The days will start to get longer, the warmth will return and it will be Summer before you know it. The year will begin to race away. You will get busy. Things will happen to knock you off course. And then it will be time to buy the Christmas Tree.

Ok, stop right there. Let’s not live our lives on fast forward.

Let’s look at a different way to view January.

January is a peaceful time. Nature is sleeping and primed for the year ahead. Nature has done the ground work for the seasons ahead. It spent a large part of summer and autumn storing energy which is ready to burst into colour come early March.

January is your time to do the ground work for your year ahead

So we mustn’t see January as a time for flogging ourselves to death with our new gym membership, taking up running at the coldest and wettest time of year or setting your alarm for 430 am so that you can become ultra productive. All you you will end up with is burnout.

Side note: I started running 8 years ago and its the one thing that I know works for my mental health - and I love mud - so running on 2nd Jan was “enjoyable(ish)”. What I’m saying is maybe don’t start running just when its most miserable. May is a much nicer month.

January is a time for planning, for booking holidays and setting our year up for success.

Think about the new habits you want to build over the coming year and identify small steps spread over the year to get you there. It’s not a sprint.

Spend some time reflecting. Spend some time connecting. Spend some time thinking about what you might want to do LESS of in 2024 to make room for all those new habits that you’re going to slowly build.

And, above all be kind to yourself.

What does January mean to you?

How do you ensure you move through the darkness and emerge stronger?

This is a tough time of year.

If you know someone who might benefit from reading this please hit share below.

1. Micro Habits That Actually Improved My Life - lost in admiration

I’m a massive fan of Daria’s videos. They are always brilliantly edited and provide real actions you can take. Micro habits are seriously powerful when it comes to changing the course of our lives.

Scrub the big new year goals. Instead, look for those small changes that you are less likely to give up on.

2. Angela Rayner - From Zero GCSE’s to Britiain’s Most Powerful Woman?

The UK is to head to the polls in 2024 with the Labour Party on the brink of power for the first time in 14 years. This leaves Deputy Leader Angela Rayner standing ready to take up the mantle of most powerful woman in Britain.

But who is she?

Her story is incredible. In a world where many politicians come from within the party system having been groomed for power from a young age Angela’s story is different. Find out more in this brilliant interview.