If you’re running a business, chances are you’re doing what every other business owner is doing: frantically packing orders, finishing client projects, preparing for early January launches and finishing year end accounting and inventory. What entrepreneurs need is deep rest at the holidays. Here’s how you can carve that out of your schedule.
Christmas and New Year’s Day are holidays. Take them off. If you are able (that is, you don’t run a retail store or a bar), also add in Christmas Eve and New Year’s eve. And if you DO run a retail store, feel free to be CLOSED on Dec 26 (boxing day) and January 2nd.
Schedule a chance to sleep, then be in nature, then read and reflect. This might look like: sleep in on Christmas morning (or take a nap), drive to a local park where you can walk on natural or paved trails in the woods for a hike day. If you have snow, go cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Then, when you get back, with a cup of tea, or cocoa, sit by a cozy fire and journal or read and reflect. Business is hard work. Taking time off is crucial.
The solstice and winter holidays offer us a time to go inside ourselves (though not necessarily indoors!) and find rest and strength for the new year. We overspend, overeat, overdrink, and over consume this time of year, when in reality, conserving, cleaning, and resting are what we need.
If you are ready to begin business planning, try these resources:
Visual business planning using Trello and Pinterest
Planning live social media events and videos (whether TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook)
Planning your content calendar for the new year
Grab your journal. If you have a bullet journal, go for that, or a traditional journal or lined business notebook, write down what worked this year, what you want to change next year. Ask yourself how your business served you, how it served your customers and how you feel about both. Use this blog post about journaling for business for help.
Watch the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” – yes, it’s a classic Christmas movie, but it’s also the story of reluctant business owner George Bailey. There are some years where I sat, tears rolling down my face, feeling exactly like George Bailey on the bridge – so beaten down by a business year that I was ready to turn in. The message of the movie is, of, course, that George’s family and friends are the most important thing (and they come through for him). I’ve watched it probably 25 years nearly in a row, through business seasons good and horrible. Through boom and bust times. There are a lot of good messages in the movie, especially for business owners.
Sending you warm wishes for joy and peace this holiday season.
