This is usually a very slow week for most organizations. Staff is on vacation, customers aren't demanding much, and it's entirely possible if you're in the office today that you're a bit grumpy as Monday was Christmas and many of us haven't had quite enough of a holiday this year. With many employees in the same situation, and another holiday coming next week, it's likely that everything in your shop is moving a bit slow. Certainly there are no shortage of people that might be on vacation this week. Usually it's a ski week for me, but not this year. 

Some of you might be just as motivated to get things done this week as any other. In fact, with less people around, you might even be more productive and perhaps are taking advantage of the time. Others of you might be trying to mosey along through your workday, enjoying a relaxed pace of work.

I find that this is a good week in the office for me to catch up on some work that might not get a priority the rest of the year. Perhaps there are some processes that I've been wanting to automate, but never found the time. Perhaps my automation isn't quite as robust or resilient as I'd like. These are the times when I can actually make a few changes and try to improve a system for the next year. If I finish early, then I'll often use this as a chance to learn something or tackle some POC that's on my list. 

That hasn't always been the case. My first exposure to SQL Server was with a system that went live on Dec 31 at midnight. In the week leading up to the launch, I was working with various other employees and contractors to get a plan in place for the cutover, including new equipment installed and all the various networking and security changes that were required. It was a busy week for me, and one that sticks in my mind. Despite all the prep work and testing, after turning the new system on we found that it couldn't handle the load. Rollback wasn't an option, so my 5pm-2am shift didn't go as planned. I worked through the next day and into the early evening before being relieved.

If you have a slower week, consider taking advantage of the time to do something interesting at work and have some fun in a way that might benefit you and your employer down the road with a new script, a stronger skill, or even a better way to handle some task. There are still a few days this week that you can use to try something.