The end of the year can be stressful enough without the extra pressure of last-minute requests due before New Year’s Eve. The author offers five strategies to help you mitigate the crunch: 1) Anticipate and ask if you suspect a recurrent request is heading your way; 2) Commit to your PTO; 3) Clarify what you’re being asked to do; 4) Reprioritize your commitments; and 5) Look for ways to prevent next year’s scramble.
My client Jacob sighed in exasperation as he told me about the year-end presentations he’d unexpectedly been asked to create for his company’s executive team. “Every year, it’s the same frantic scramble as December approaches,” he said. “It’s like everyone’s surprised that the year is almost gone.”