It’s beginning to look a lot like Xmas….all around the world. Yes, that’s right folks. Xmas is just days away, and unless you’re in retail or hospitality everything seems to be shutting down.
PLUS…people are exhausted, emotional and over it – well mostly.
Have you noticed stuff turning to crap around you? I have. It seems like everyone is on an emotional roller coaster with their fuzes getting shorter and shorter.
Why is that?
I think it’s the general chaos that runs our lives these days. We are always doing doing doing. So by the time we get to December 20th we have had it.
In general we don’t seem to take enough time to chill out, relax and just be during the year, so 50 or so weeks of adrenalin hit us like a sledge hammer in December and we react however it is our body likes to react.
For some it’s exhaustion, wanting to shut down and just not giving a shit about the last few weeks of the year.
For some it’s working like a maniac to get everything done so they can have a blissful break after the guy in the red suit has been.
For others they become a time bomb of frustration and anxiety about work and the silly season.
For others they seem to not even notice it’s Xmas and they just continue down their merry path.
For me, I think I’m a bit of a combination of all of the about. My fuze is shorter, I absolutely buggered and now that my daughter has finished school, I’m ready to shut up shop for the year.
Problem is – when it’s your own business it can be a little hard to do……..so you need to have a plan!!!
My plan includes finishing with most clients today, and apart from the odd phone / Skype session, I will be offline and concentrating on the content for my programs next year, and the strategy that will put it all out there.
There’s lots of reading on my list for the next few weeks, lots of fun times with my daughter and some general lazing around the pool – probably with a friend and maybe a cocktail or two.
We need to recharge. It’s just not possible to keep going at the pace we usually run at 52 weeks a year. You will work yourself into the ground and probably out of business.
My Top 5 Tips to cope with Xmas are:-
1/ Plan your shopping and get started early in the year to avoid all the rush (and spread out the $$).
2/ Schedule clients and work early to give yourself a god break.
3/ Plan a social media / online black out for at least a few days.
4/ Even if you have kids, schedule some days (or at least hours) that are just for you.
5/ Keep the running around to 500 parties a night to a minimum. You just can’t do it. It’s ok to say no, I promise.
I LOVE Christmas so I do anything I can to make it as enjoyable as possible and my biggest tip for this is….don’t get sucked into other peoples drama / stories / shit. For some people, Xmas is a black hole of issues and they can project this all around them. You can’t fix to for them. I promise you that – I’ve tried and tired. Just stick to what makes your Xmas special to you and the people you love the most.