It’s the holidays. Life is busy right now. You can now add shopping, cooking, parties, and celebrations to the balls you were already juggling. There are going to be days where you don’t even feel you have enough time to breathe, let alone work on your business.
This is the time of year when it can be really easy to just stop working. But don’t do it! It will be very hard to “get back in the saddle” when January rolls around.
Here are some tips to keep your business going – and not go totally insane:
Let Go Of The Guilt: Simply put, you may not have the time to do everything on your to-do list in the coming weeks. Do yourself a favor and let go of the guilt. Feeling bad about not being able to work your day job, shop for presents, make cookies, and work on your biz all in the same day. Stop feeling guilty about what you can’t fit in and focus on all of the things you did manage to get done. You’ll feel a lot better.
Do What You Can, With The Time You Have: You need to write a blog post, create a new graphic, upload photos to your flickr account and send out a few tweets. The problem? You have approximately a half hour of free time on your schedule. So, maybe you’re not going to get everything done, but you can write the blog post and send out the tweets. Or you can work on that graphic while your photos are uploading. Do what you can with the time you have! You may not get it all done, but you will get some of it done, and that is much better than not getting anything done!
Blog In Blocks: One trick that I use around the year is writing in blocks, and this may help you, too – especially during this busy time of year. Instead of writing a blog post every day of the week, sit down on Sunday (or whatever day works for you), and write 3 blog posts. You can schedule them to publish throughout the week, such as on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Take Time To Enjoy Yourself: As much as I love business (and working), I know that no one thinks “Man, I wish I spent more time working!” before they die. I know that people are thinking “I wish I spent more time with my family.” So be sure to take the time to enjoy the holiday season. Make some cookies, drink some hot chocolate, watch Frosty The Snowman, tell the special people in your life how much they mean to you, and have a fantastic holiday season! You won’t regret it!
Words of wisdom…thanks for the reminder!
Enjoyed the article!
I love the last bit about enjoying oneself. Time is not on your side – it’s a given, but it’s a given for every thing you do, so accept it. This is it, so have fun. Goof off, skate, play with the kids, take the dog out in the snow, make paper snowflakes and eat lots of warm cookies. You can’t get this holiday back.
Great, practical advice! I was letting my shop slip over T-giving break…my priorities are with my family, but I still at least check-in on my Etsy shop daily.
Thanks for all the compliments! I’m glad you found the post helpful!
Great post, Crissy – short and sweet! Thank you.
Good stuff Chrissy! Time is so precious–I’m glad you addressed this. Thank you.
I love the “Blog in Blocks” idea! Definitely one I wish I’d thought of/heard about a long time ago — thanks for bringing it to my attention! From now on, blog in blocks…
OMG! I love the holidays, but having a business and also having a business almost seems insane! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I needed a good positive thought. It’s good for other business owners to remember to enjoy the holidays. They are here for that too!
Thank you so much! Now I don’t have to be hard on myself. Balancing my day job, family http://www.Blessedrepublic.Etsy.com. Haha! One good thing when you love what you are doing is it becomes a therapy.
Good advice! My motto is: “work a little, play a little, repeat!”
Thank you for the article, it was refreshing 🙂
… and you are right, as much as I love what I do on my shop (https://sofisticata.etsy.com), I do have to take time for my husband and little baby dog!
I’m glad Etsy picked up this article – what a great read! Thank you for sharing these awesome tips. It’s so easy to let go of yourself when you’re running your own biz! I’m making a new year’s resolution to use all your tips when running our http://www.anthologyplace.com :))
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