Close out the year in style: Eight autumn tips for event planners

Thanksgiving and other musings

What will you implement this fall? I have a few ideas in my own integrated life/career as we move from the summer into a cooler time of year. This is also a time of more meetings for many, both planning and attending, and taking time out to focus on our own needs can be daunting. Here are a few things I am thinking about.

1. Pack lighter. This is the year I add a thin down jacket to my winter wardrobe – a staple for cooler destinations, and still allowing me to maintain my new mantra of no carry-on for any trip under five days. Sorry airlines, but I am tired of the extra fees and long waits at faraway carousels.
2. Indulge lightly. Tis the season – of big meals, evenings inside with friends, Thanksgiving and holiday treats and the inevitable baskets of goodies that appear around every office in the land. This year I will work at having only one hand in the cookie jar (or the cheese plate…). I know I will feel better for it through the whole season.
3. Be grateful and thank more people. None of us do it alone. We rely on co-workers and industry partners, life partners, teachers, pet and daycare providers, and the global village that makes up or lives. I will try to send more notes – paper or electronic – to thank the people who make an ongoing difference.
4. Listen more. It is easy to brim over with my own great ideas, sometimes at the risk of missing something important someone quieter might want to say. I will also add more music. Adding music to our daily lives lifts our spirits and adds a layer that makes a difference – listen to whatever makes you smile.
5. Break stuff. Not literally, but look at the way we are doing meetings and events and see if there isn’t something new to add, a piece to edit out, a cool new idea to try, and gauge the reactions.
6. Explore one new technology. The pace is overwhelming, so I will be realistic about learning one new thing well. As our world becomes more automated, it means we are constantly pushed to learn one more CRM tool, or a creative software from floor plans to all-out design, or a practical software such as salesforce, or payroll or HR management, or how to create and edit our own sound or video files, among other things. What would you choose to take a deep dive into?
7. Gift well. Nothing makes me happier than a thoughtful gift. This year I am going to do my best to not find the most expensive gift but to find the one with the most meaning for the recipients, and to continue to stay focused on giving experiences before stuff – shared time is incredibly valuable.
8. Run, walk or jump. My first article this year offered up 15 tips for wellness – and while we really can’t do it all, finding time for activity has immense benefits to well-being, productivity and joy. And who doesn’t want more joy?

What will you do to close out 2014 in style? Comment below and let us know!