One of my favorite authors/artists Austin Kleon, describes the weird time between Christmas and January 1st as Dead Week. Nobody hardly gets any actual work done, unless you're in healthcare, retail, banking, or hospitality. The personal expectations are fairly low. You may be visiting family, packing up your holiday stuff, or (don't do it!) shopping the sale aisles. But as far as accomplishments? Nah... that's a January problem.
In my more OCD youth, I would insist that all of the Christmas decor and remnants of gift giving and unwrapping be put away and dispositions assigned by 11:59 pm December 31. I don't have school-aged kids at home anymore, so I feel pressure to start fresher on the first day of the new year (or maybe medication is working?). I would spend most of Dead Week organizing and purging the items that were replaced by gifts of Christmas joy or just not needed.
I love a fresh start in the New Year, but now I typically leave town on a vacation. The academic schedule expects very little of us between Christmas and the new year, so that's about what I give: very little. I have just completed 15 weeks of pounding nursing theory and practice into Gen Z brains, and I need a minute before I am ready to rinse and repeat. I am often doing a mileage run to keep airline status for the following year, so Dead Week's a good time to do it.
In terms of minimalism, it's a nice refresh. I don't think about work, I try to see something new, and I commit to nothing in my regular life. I may spend a minute reflecting on the past year, and jot down a few goals for the next, but I keep the personal expectations at a minimum.
In fact, I started looking forward to those late December days as a neat part of my holiday. More alive than dead, I suppose.
