Does the thought of learning how to relax this holiday season seem like a daunting task?
You’re feeling tired, overworked, and drained more than ever.
Still, believe it or not, part of your job as an entrepreneur is to take some time off from your work.
You need both physical and mental space to recuperate and reenergize yourself for your daily routine.
Here are five productivity pointers to help you prepare and unwind during the holiday season.
In this article, you’ll learn how to relax during the holidays in your business.
Why Should You Learn How to Relax During the Holidays?
We all know the holiday season brings about it’s own set of unique challenges and frustrations.
But why should you learn how to relax during the holidays in the first place?
As a productivity consultant, I can think of three key reasons why this is a good idea.
For starters, learning how to relax during the holidays will help you better navigate those social responsibilities of parties, concerts, and events.
And that’s not to mention shopping, meal preparation, and decorations as well!
When you’re relaxed, you’ll be better equipped to address any unexpected or unaddressed issues and problems that may occur over the course of your preparations.
Another reason to learn how to relax is that you’ll be more present to enjoy holiday festivities.
Sharing memorable moments with employees, staff, clients, friends, and family is a lot more fun when you’re rested, alert, and awake!
A third reason is that learning how to relax now will help you set a strong foundation for your business in the new year.
Once the holidays are over, it’s back to the daily grind.
You can use your newfound relaxation skills to help you better manage your time and energy on weekdays, weekends, holidays, and vacations.
When Should You Learn How to Relax?
Ideally, you should have a few relaxation techniques up your sleeve to help you get through the ins and outs of everyday life in your business.
But now is a good time as ever to start learning relaxation skills!
The sooner you can start planning your holiday routines, the better.
This ensures you’ll have ample time to create, rework, and finalize holiday arrangements for your business and personal life.
A good rule of thumb is start thinking about holiday arrangements around mid to late October.
You’ll have several weeks worth of planning available to you should you need it.
For your business, consider making arrangements to address holiday hours, staff coverage, client care, and the delivery of products and services.
What Are the Benefits of Learning How to Relax?
Learning how to relax has many benefits for both you and your business.
Some benefits of learning how to relax include:
- Positive outlook in your business and personal life
- Boost mental focus, clarity, and attention in your work
- Improved communication with others in your business
- Creative or innovative solutions for timely challenges
- Better overall productivity throughout the week
How to Relax During the Holidays
If you find it challenging to relax during the week, then you’ll certainly want to prepare for the busy holiday season.
Having a step-by-step guide in your back pocket makes it easier to plan ahead for what’s to come.
Here are five productivity pointers to help you prepare and unwind during the holiday season.
Plan your business break
It can be difficult to relax if you’re spending the bulk of your vacation time thinking about your business.
Do yourself a favor and build a plan for yourself. Begin by identifying your time off or days off.
Next, build around these dates.
Block off time in your calendar before and after your departure so you can wrap up business affairs.
If you work with a team, identify a single contact person to handle or delegate items in your absence.
You should also hold a team meeting to discuss how business should be handled while you’re away.
If you work solo, consider changing voicemail and email messages to alert your absence.
Jot down pending or outstanding issues to be addressed upon your return.
Likewise, make a plan to alert clients or customers to the start and end dates of your absence.
Depending on your business, you may consider leaving an emergency contact name and number as well.
Create a relaxation schedule
You’re used to planning a busy day for yourself and getting things done.
But now you need to shift your focus and make sure you’re having relaxing days for yourself.
This can take some thought, especially if you haven’t taken time off in several weeks or months.
Avoid simply booking your relaxation time solid with activities for activities’ sake.
Identify one activity that would be utterly relaxing for you to do. You can do this for each day of your break or as you so choose.
Next, think about how you can make the most of this activity and truly savor it.
Does that mean bringing your full self to the activity? Enjoying conversations with family and friends? Eliminating unnecessary distractions?
Look to the near future
Unfortunately, there’s a common tendency to squeeze unnecessary things in at the end of the year.
Yes, the calendar year is ending.
And yes, you should most certainly take care of urgent and important items in your business.
But you don’t have to work yourself into a giant ball of stress over the next several weeks.
Ditch the “must get everything done by the end of the year” mindset. You’ve got the whole next year to work on your business.
Give yourself time to relax and unwind and you’ll have more energy to do the things you want to do in the future.
Capture those ideas in a safe place
You know those entrepreneur ideas that pop up in your mind.
While we can’t switch off the flow of ideas, we can appropriately capture them for later use.
The method used is irrelevant. What’s most important is that you record information.
Use a work notebook, app, text file, or voice recorder to capture any ideas.
To ensure you address those ideas after your holiday break, pencil in some time in your calendar to review items upon your return.
Trade your work for opposite activities
This approach is fun and novel because it forces you to get outside of your usual work routine.
The idea is this: simply do the opposite of what you would normally do in the course of your daily work.
If you spend your days on the computer, spend more time outdoors or in some other off-line activity like reading, cooking, or drawing.
If you spend time by yourself, spend more time with friends and family.
Constantly moving your body, every single day? Take some time to rest up.
If you eat meals on the run or at a desk, take long leisurely breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in your dining room or in restaurants.
Learn how to manage your time during the year
Time management is a skill that needs to be learned, practiced, and refined every single day day of the.
If you want clarity around managing your time in your business or life, schedule a free 30-minute video strategy session with me today.
How about you? What steps are you going to take to better manage your time during the holiday season? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!
A version of this article originally appeared on Inc.com.
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