What if You're Just DONE for the Year?

Oh, here they come.

Cue the tidal wave of "How to Land a Job Before the End of the Year" articles all over the internet. You'll find more of these than you can possibly shake a stick at between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, every year ( a couple of decent examples: right HERE and HERE).

Heck, I've even written some. (VOILA).

And, these tips can certainly be helpful for those who are revved up and ready to go right freaking now.

But, What If You're Not?

What if you're feeling totally overwhelmed?

What if you're just flat-out tired or feeling the intense crunch of holiday preparation, family visits, festivities that go into all hours and competing priorities up the wazoo?

What if you know you want something better, more rewarding, better paying, or more in line with your personality and values in 2018 ... yet don't have a clue what that looks like (or doesn't look like) quite yet.

What if you've been living life with your hair on fire all year (or longer) and just want to catch your breath for five ... stinking ... minutes before racing off to the next big thing?

What if that's you?

Should You Worry that You'll be Left Behind?

Will your competitors all be reading the aforementioned articles and be lurching ahead of you once the ball drops in Times Square on January 1? Will you be foolish to pause at the exact moment in which seemingly every job search resource is telling you to accelerate?

No.

If you're just DONE for the year, then be done for the year. Seriously. Ease of the gas. Hell, slam on the brakes if you need to. The world is not going to crumble. Every job in the job universe will not be gone when you crack open your laptop in January (or even February, which tends to be an incredibly busy hiring month).

Racing out in a frenzied manner may actually prolong your effort (frenetic people tend to be inefficient people), and could result in your landing the wrong job in your haste. (I'm going to stand out on a limb here and guess that this is not at all what you're aiming for, right?)

So, for those who are just not feeling the December sprint-to-the-finish-line spirit?

Take a Pause

For real. Unplug from this topic for a bit, or use these next few weeks only to contemplate (in a relaxed, no-pressure manner) what this next job may look like, what it may feel like, who it might be with, and who it may be worthwhile to introduce yourself to in the coming weeks.

Or, if you're thinking about a pivot -- and you're up for it -- see if that friend working in the industry you're eyeing wants to grab a pre-holiday drink or lunch.

Or, don't.

Western culture sells us this giant bill of goods that we all have to run around like maniacs at all times. All around us, we're bombarded with overt and subtle messages that insist we have to lunge what we want, the millisecond we decide we want it. That we can sleep when we're dead. That everything has to be done with a sense of immediacy and off-the-charts vigor. That, unless we're busier than everyone else around us, that we're big slugs.

But here's the thing ...

Activity for the sake of activity isn't necessarily going to serve you, especially if it's not purposeful, strategic or done when you can see straight.

Rest for the sake of rest, on the other hand, will.

So, if it's time to unplug, for the love of it all, stop reading those articles right now and scram for the rest of the year.

They'll be right there waiting when you're ready to roll (and we will, too).