The 100 Years Club Installment #156: My Countdown Timer

Advent calendars abound this season! 

From lingerie & booze to more spiritual icons and Xmas tree sea glass, the notion of the “holiday countdown” is nothing new. Revealing each new day can give us hope, entertain us, and even give us a bunch of new surprises.

As someone who loves both words and numbers (and possesses more than a dollop of organizational compulsion), I am a big countdown fan.

A colleague once said that she thinks that one of the problems today is that digital clocks have trained people to live in the second, rather than to visually grasp the passage of time. See the links below for how educators are handling that.

Time is not unlimited.

As I age, I am even more aware of the finite nature of life, where I was even five years ago (or yesterday), and how to make every moment memorable.

You’ll also find me writing more next year about “legacy” and how we need to think about how we might want to be remembered when we’re gone. (I contemplated it just yesterday while in the midst of truly terrifying turbulence on a flight back from the East Coast.)

Let’s keep things light and bright in the spirit of the holidays.

Here are a few things you can do to get/stay on track as we all juggle work, play, parties, family, friends, shopping, and celebration-planning.

1. Pick a number and make a “word list” (no more than 12 things) of what’s most important to you. It can be just for a limited time period, or it can drive your entire 2026 business and life plan. Here’s mine. In keeping with my NANCYAF brand, I called it the 11 F’s of the holiday season.
2. Set small and achievable goals for every day for the rest of 2025. (You’ll be hearing more about this in my December and January podcasts, with insights from 10 random professionals of all ages and stages. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, so you don’t miss them!
3. Learn how AI can help you streamline unpleasant and repetitive tasks, freeing up minutes (or even hours) for more pleasant and human activities. Consider it your automated elves or reindeer.
   

   Yeah, these robot elves are kinda creepy, but it’s the concept that matters!

4. Make time for self-care and fun…even if it’s only 10 minutes a day. You can even reward yourself with small “gifts” each day for completing unpleasant tasks.
5. Celebrate EVERY DAY. Watching my grandkids change their own Advent calendars reminded me of that childlike optimism and joy that starts and ends every day we’re alive.

Above all, don’t get thrown off entirely if unexpected events mess up your highly organized day-by-day (or minute-by-minute) countdown plan.

Sh*t happens, even over the holiday season.

I’ve learned that all too well over the past seven decades…unexpectedly losing loved ones and body parts as well as amazing new connections that changed my life and career path.

So, countdown, but be prepared to go out of sequence when necessary!

And Santa (or whoever delivers Hanukkah gifts)…if you wanna buy me $660 worth of thongs, I’ll put the calendar on my list!

Wacky and valuable facts about counting down and advent calendars.

	Create your own countdown timer.
	Hmmm…a sex advent calendar?
	How to teach kids about the passage of time (and more)
	Don’t let “time anxiety” impact you!