It’s a busy time of year for many of us with extra holiday activities and responsibilities. I also find that many people’s expectations vary about work and time off at this time of year. Certainly, there are the folks working retail that hope to at least get one or two days off. My unfortunate sister-in-law had to leave Thanksgiving by 3 p.m. for years to arrive on time for her store to open at 6 p.m. ON Thanksgiving day for the EARLY Black Friday crowd. (Absolute craziness in my opinion… after all it’s called Black FRIDAY. Ok, rant over.)
However, for most entrepreneurs and quite a few senior executives, it’s your decision how much time to take off around the holidays. Therefore, I’m going to offer you some thoughts about how to take advantage of this unusual time of year.
Give Yourself Space
Believe me, as most of my friends know I can maintain a high-intensity pace at times, but this is the time of year when I generally try to shift to low gear. Why? It’s one time of year when if you disappear for a couple weeks very few people will notice or miss you. It’s the one time of year when most other people are also taking some down time with family. Therefore, it has generally been my habit to take the last two weeks of December entirely OFF. Typically, at least one of those weeks we are spending with family, but often the other week I give myself time to rest and reflect.
If I do anything, then it might be spend a day planning for the upcoming year, but that’s about it. And for me, that’s kinda fun… particularly with a cup of hot cocoa in hand and good music or a holiday movie on in the background.
That’s why I typically encourage my clients to seriously consider giving themselves the gift of two solid weeks off at this time of year. A chance to truly unplug and enjoy time with your family and yourself.
Give Everyone Space
If you simply can’t imagine taking two whole weeks off, then consider if you can at least grant that time to the others you work with. Just because the boss can’t imagine standing still doesn’t mean that your team needs to keep hopping to it. Imagine how grateful your team will be (not to mention rested and refreshed) if they get some serious downtime this holiday season?
Take a look at your projects and tasks and think seriously… what can wait? If there are some things that definitely can’t, then can you at least cut things back to just those actions? For instance, I know that you might still what someone to answer the phone to make sure you don’t miss business opportunities, but how can you make that as easy and painless as possible for the person responsible and give them a way to set expectations about any requests that can wait until the New Year?
In the early years of my organizing company, I frequently set my away message for the business phone line and email to say that the office was closed until the New Year. Did I miss opportunities? Perhaps a few. Did I regret it? Not at all. I would much rather work with clients who appreciate and respect such boundaries than those who can’t understand them. It’s all about your perceptions and priorities.
Focus Your Intentions
More than anything, I send you my warmest wishes for a joyful, gentle, and bright holiday season. May you surround yourself and those you care about with a feeling of peace and love during this time of year, and may we be grateful for all the small blessings that we experience each day.
Happy Holidays,
From Erin, Brian, & The Chosen Course Team
