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Are you ready for the holidays? Use the month of December to relax a little, to declare your priorities and to make a vigorous plan for the next year….
Christmas seems to come upon us a little sooner every year. This year, Netflix clogged my queue with Christmas movies in early November. (Really, Netflix? That was pretty annoying.)
But in early December, we should all start getting prepared. I once saw a useful post on ProBlogger.com advising bloggers how to get ready for the holidays. And I think, as writers, we can adapt some of that same advice for many styles of work.
Here are five tips based on the ones offered by Darren Rowse in his ProBlogger piece:
1. Determine when you’ll be taking a break
This step is particularly important for freelancers, who may be called upon at the last moment, when everyone else is out of the office. If you don’t want to work on specific days, make sure your clients know what those days are, well in advance. And if you DO want to work, be sure to let them know that, too. The holiday season may be your chance to earn some major brownie points with companies struggling with fewer staff than usual — and may also give you the chance to earn some good money for yourself.
2. Figure out what you want to get out of your holiday time
Do you want to put your feet up and do nothing but eat shortbread and sip eggnog? Great! Go for it. But also remember that December can be a gift. Your clients will probably be much quieter than usual, and you can use some of this time to plan for 2025. I always block off four hours every December for planning my next year’s list of goals and objectives. Doing this sort of planning when I’m not feeling squeezed by client work makes me feel more comfortable and better organized. Also, I love being able to start the new year with a plan already in place.
3. Make a list of the projects you need to finish before you can take time off
Then, schedule them. Figure out how long each one is going to take and block that time off in your calendar. You don’t want to be the only person in the world working at 5 p.m. on Dec. 24.
As Darren Rowse says, “without taking your plans to this level of granularity, you’ll run the risk of underestimating the time and energy you’ll need to do everything on your list.” Remember: most jobs take 50 to 100% longer than we think they’re going to take.
4. Declare your priorities
What if you have more work than you have time? If you can’t do everything you want, check your top priorities and consider whether you’d be happy if you achieved just those. (I always make planning for the next year my number one priority for December.)
5. Get ready for your return in 2025
Here’s another pearl of wisdom from Darren: “Getting ready for the festive season isn’t just about getting through to January 1. It’s also about hitting the ground running when you get back to your desk.”
Write your to-do list for your first day back at work in 2025, being sure to include time for:
- checking emails that accumulated while you were offline
- setting goals for the new year (if you didn’t do that during your break)
- reconnecting with others who you can help — and who can help you
Meanwhile, if you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a happy and relaxing one!
An earlier version of this post first appeared on my blog on Dec. 5/22.
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My video podcast last week addressed how to improve your research. You can watch the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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How do you get ready for the holidays in December? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the “comments” section, below. If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by Dec. 31/24, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the “comments,” directly underneath the “related posts” links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)
