Back to What Already Works
Picture this. 4am. My door bursts open.
"Do you know where Quinn is?!"
My wife and I have been splitting nights. One of us gets actual sleep in the guest room, the other deals with the tiny humans. Last night I was in the guest room in a deep sleep when Emily burst in asking if I knew where our 3-year-old was.
I went from dead asleep to confusion to panic in seconds. Silly of me to assume she was in her bedroom. Turns out she had used her foot stool to climb over the child safety gate at 4am. We were running around the house, not knowing if she'd somehow gotten outside because while the doors are locked, she's well-versed with escaping through the dog door.
After a stressful ten minutes we found her hiding behind a door in the opposite side of the house.
Welcome to December with a 4-month-old and a toddler escape artist.
What Was Actually Falling Apart
We haven't been sleeping well for months. And somewhere in the fog, I realized things were falling through the cracks. Not just at home. At work too.
I stopped using the systems I know work. Not intentionally. It just... happened.
I wasn't sitting down to plan my day before it started. I was getting pulled into product rabbit holes or responding to other people's agendas instead of my own. I'd lost sight of what I actually needed to focus on.
The frustrating part? I know daily planning works. I literally designed the Self Journal around it. I know weekly reflection prevents drift. It's built into the product.
But I fell out of the habit anyway.
So I made myself a rule: I can't open my laptop until I decide what I'm going to do when I open it and how it aligns to my goals.
It's only been a week. But things are already looking better (thanks DAP). Not because I discovered something new. Because I went back to what already worked.
Here's the Thing About December
It's not the month to learn new systems. It's the month to remember what already works.
It's the month where you start telling people by December 2nd that you'll have to catch up in the new year because you're at capacity. (Hi, that's me right now.)
December comes with extra weight. More decisions (gifts, parties, year-end deadlines). Disrupted routines (kids home, holiday schedules). And that emotional undertow of "where did the year go?"
You can't do everything. But you can maintain your foundation: planning before reacting, ten minutes of weekly reflection, one clear priority instead of ten.
The System You Stopped
This is when I do my annual audit, looking back at my year to plan for the next one. But before you plan next year, ask yourself this:
- What system did you stop using that you know works?
Not a new hack. Not a TikTok trend. What thing that USED to work did you quietly abandon?
For me: Daily planning before opening my laptop.
Find that thing. Try it again this week and see how you feel.
📺 What to Watch
We recently binged All Her Fault and I'm still thinking about it. (Especially after Quinn went missing at 4am...)
I grew up with only 5 TV channels. So when Christmas came, movies were actually on TV. I'd buy the TV Guide and highlight everything I wanted to watch. We couldn't record anything, so I was literally planning my time around when movies aired.
Kids today will never understand having to wait for a specific time to watch the thing you want to watch 😅
🧠 Brain Food
A meta-analysis found that rest breaks are associated with a 5% increase in quantitative work performance and an 8% increase in qualitative work performance, even though work time is technically "lost" to the break.
Your brain doesn't recover by pushing through. It recovers by stepping away.
Watching a show guilt-free isn't lazy. It's how your brain gets ready for the next thing.
December is supposed to include those breaks. Treat it that way.
