After the Holidays, Now What?

It's January.  The tree and decorations are down and the parties and gift-giving are over.  Here in New York, we have a heavy cover of snow so deep that it nearly buried the little lighted deer in our front yard.

Now what?  What do we do and where do we go now that our lives are not caught up in holiday activities?

Indeed, everything begins anew on January 1st, so I should be hustling from one thing to another-- bookkeeping and readying for tax time, re-organizing my supplies and workspace and producing my Valentine's and not far behind, my spring line, right?  Instead, on January 2nd, I felt like hibernating.   In fact, just between you and me, I spent one whole day in sweats and didn't even make dinner!

It seems to me that a little downtime is a good thing, in reality, especially if it is used to think about and plan how to get out of the After-the-Holidays Funk.  (There, I named it, so it's official).  Nevertheless, getting back to normal is extremely important to me, so allowing myself to wallow in my mud pit of fatigue is simply not acceptable.  I'm actually using this Funk time to think about what needs to be done to get where I need to be.

For instance, until about two weeks before Christmas, I was doing well at getting some exercise and eating a healthy diet.  All of that went the way of a sled on an icy hill somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was made worse by the fact that my birthday is on January 1st, thus extending the fun and games for a little while longer.  This doesn't have to become a habit, however, so I am working back to better healthy habits that will help restore my energy and outlook.  I even bought kale yesterday.

I'm planning my schedule to accomplish my goals, knowing that I have to set deadlines.  This is very good for me because, as the old saying goes, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it."  And yes, I'm moving toward those goals--the tree is down, the carpets are scheduled to be cleaned, and I made soap!

How about you?  Can you relate to my feelings?  What do you do to make January a meaningful and productive month?

*Watch out for a clearance sale--it's coming!