It’s the dead week. I have dubbed the week between Christmas and the New Year “Dead Week.” It used to be depressing, but now I find it empty of life, flat, forsaken. Or insert whatever other negative word you want.
Most people are off their schedule and routines, which means people are on vacation, which means other things are closed, have shortened hours, or are short-staffed.
Sidenote: this is part of why I decided to cancel gym memberships and create my own garage gym. I didn’t want to have to work out on someone else’s schedule.
Maybe others are recovering from all the hustle and bustle, lying low, or enjoying their family coming to town for the holiday.
#MerryChrismas pic.twitter.com/T9IrDlAcBk
— Carol reMarks (@carolremarks) December 25, 2023
Nothing changes for me; I will still go to work and have to try to keep a routine and schedule, or I will go down into a dark place. But I am aware of this now, and I know what to do.
So, I thought I would also share other things you can do to keep yourself busy during this dead week. Here are some other things I do in addition to my routine.
Keeping Busy During Dead Week
- Start deleting SPAM and JUNK emails that I subscribed to throughout the year, whether they be beauty boutiques or political news sites. If I haven’t read any of them recently, I unsubscribe from them as they come in this week.
- Typically, I will take this week off from working out, too. So, to fill that temporary time off, I might clean out a closet or my dresser, getting rid of clothes I no longer wear. It doesn’t have to be a monumental task. I don’t like biting off too much during this time, either.
- A new planner. I already got my new planner at the beginning of December, though, but I can still take the time to fill in January’s calendar with birthdays, holidays, planned PTO, and goals.
- Start going through my social media feeds, unfollowing certain accounts, and deleting extra accounts I created throughout the year.
- Go through my makeup and remove old lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, eyeliners, etc.
- I might try to tidy up the garage gym, too, because during preparing for Christmas, we have probably gathered a bunch of boxes and wrapping paper and crap that we throw in the garage to get it out of the way.
I don’t know why this dead week makes me want to start minimalizing my life, but it does. This time of year makes me want to take stock of my life mentally, spiritually, and emotionally and start to cut things down to a smaller scale.
Looking Ahead
But, during this time, I also like to think about the New Year and what it might bring. Or, what can I bring to the New Year? What is it that I would like to accomplish? How can I shower love on the people who are important to me, spending more time with and listening to them? Make everything less about myself and more about them.
Now that I am in my late 50s, I don’t make many grand sweeping promises of change. It’s more like small little fine-tuning that I try to pay more attention to.
For example, in the New Year of 2024, I’d like to do a couple of things:
- Read more books
- Cut down my time on social media usage
- Write more on my blog
- and give direct answers to my husband when he asks me questions.
If The Gent and I decide to go out to eat, he asks me, “Where would you like to eat?” Instead of me saying, “I don’t know,” or “wherever you want to go is fine with me.” Instead, I will tell him exactly where I want to go to eat.
Would you like another cup of coffee? Instead of replying, only if you’re having one. Tell him if I want one or not. It’s simple.
It’s just the little things like that. I plan on giving a direct answer.
What about you? Is this a weird time for you, too?
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