Working between Christmas and New Years? Turns out you might be on to something...

We were discussing in the office today about who is taking what vacation days off until the end of the year. Some people are working part of next week, some aren't working at all. Almost everyone, however, is taking off between Christmas and New Years.

There are A FEW people who will be working between Christmas and New Years. At first I thought these people were crazy. Why would you work on this precious week when you could go on a much needed vacation before busy season? Do you really like work THAT much? (If the answer is yes, then you really do need to find a hobby...) It then hit me- at midnight on a work night- that these people might actually be on to something. And if you are one of those people who are STUCK working this precious week? Well this post is for you, consider yourself lucky!

Think about it. You are in the office with very few other people, not alot of work (since there are very few other people) and free time that you are getting paid for.  Here are my list of ideas of how to spend the week between Christmas and New Years in the office:

1. Organize your desk. Would it really hurt for you to enter a new and busy year all organized and with a clean desk? Definitely not! Everyone will come back from their ski vacation frazzled and jealous of your organized desk.

2. Organize your life for that matter. You probably will have free time (since all the managers are skiing), you might as well make a budget, take care of personal finances, and prepare for the next year.

3. Network. There will probably be other people in the office. This is the perfect opportunity to branch out and make new friends in the office that you might not ever get to meet.

4. Snack on all those holiday treats that people left in the break room (hey, you deserve it! and they would just go bad without you)

5. Enjoy leaving at 5. Who is going to be in the office to give you work at the last second before you are walking out the door? Is there really going to be a deadline on December 28th? probably not.

6. Plan your next vacation. With this whole week of vacation time you have saved, you can use the roll over vacation to take a MUCH NEEDED vacation later in the year.

7. Stock up on cool pens. If they don't have any more in the supply closet, I am sure your neighbor will never remember exactly which pens he had before the holiday break.

This being said. My last day in the office is December 24th.  For a week- and a much needed vacation. While I have now convinced myself that working this precious week is not too bad, I think the real place to be on December 26th is laying in my bed at 11am.

Lessons from Lunch: Learn to talk about sports

Unless you work in the lingerie department of Macy's, it is likely that you work with at least one guy. Most likely multiple ones. And while girls will talk about the amazing sales at Macy's, guys tend to talk about sports. This might come from the fact that it is one of the few topics that guys can relate to eachother on that is appropriate to talk about at work. (but that is not the point) The point is that at one moment or another, you are mostlikely going to have to carry on a conversation with a group of guys and when that day comes... you are going to want to be prepared.

I am not saying that you need to suddenly give up the hottest reality TV series or your favorite sitcom and switch it for ESPN, ESPN News, and that show where there are four people screaming at eachother about hot "sports topics". Unless you dedicate 3 hours (that was an actual estimate from one of my male counterparts) a day reading sports blogs you might never be able to "compete" on the same level that they do, but it doesn't hurt to have something to contribute to the conversation.

How can this be done? Simply learn 5 facts about hot sports topics. Read the sports headlines once a week and learn just enough about a current topic to add in a sentence or two when the conversation arises at work. (which odds are? It most likely will) The guys will be so impressed that you will earn your "cool" points for the week and feel as though you contributed to conversation.