5 Tips for Work-Life Balance During the Holiday Season

We love the holiday season here at Fearless Foundry. Cozy blankets, decorated trees, warm beverages, and the spirit of giving have us excited for Christmas and New Year’s.

Even though this time of the year is merry and bright, we recognize that it can be stress inducing, especially for business owners who have a lot to juggle. We work with many clients who run deals and sales over the holidays, a tactic that brings in new customers and revenue but requires a lot of work. 

There’s nothing worse than not being able to enjoy the holidays because of job-related stress, so we wanted to share some of our top anxiety busting tips! Whether you’re a solopreneur, have a team of employees, or work for a company, these 5 tips can help you find balance during the holidays:   

#1: Don’t be Afraid to Say “No” 

There’s a lot of pressure around the holidays to be social, spend time volunteering, and attend every Christmas party invite. Saying “yes” to every activity that comes your way might make others happy, but on top of work projects, can make your personal life feel overwhelming. 

Saying “no thank you” when someone extends an invitation isn’t rude, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation. The same goes for setting boundaries with clients. If a client is out of scope or asks for unrealistic deadlines, be firm but polite with your boundaries. The right clients will respect the contract they signed and won’t ask you to overexert, especially during the holidays!   

#2: Schedule Personal Time on Your Calendar 

Sometimes the only way to get a few minutes of alone time is to send yourself a Google invite. Maybe you’ve been trying to take an hour-long lunch break all week but keep getting pulled in for additional tasks or meetings. Maybe you finished all of your work for the week and planned to head home early on Friday, but forgot to block the time and someone scheduled a meeting with you, it happens!

Time blocking your calendar and sharing it with your employees and/or coworkers is a great way to set work-related boundaries. If there’s a very clearly marked time block for an hour lunch on your schedule, people are less likely to bug you during that time!

#3: Prioritize

Time management skills are excellent to have year-round, but especially during the long holiday season. For many companies, running holiday sales and deals adds extra work to their employees’ plate. If your anxiety has you feeling like a Christmas cracker being pulled from both ends, task prioritization may help.  

When your to-do list starts to get overwhelming, ask yourself what’s due first? Work on what needs to be turned in the quickest before anything else—if nothing is due today, try to start on a task that’s due a few days later. Starting somewhere can ease your anxiety and help set you up for success. 

If you’re having trouble prioritizing because it seems like every item on your to-do list is important, ask your boss or team for help! It’s a manager's job to help their employees prioritize, so you should never feel bad asking for clarification. If you’re a business owner and are the boss, have an honest conversation with yourself about your capacity. This may mean talking with your clients about what’s feasible to achieve within a certain timeline, and might require adjusting or extending deadlines.

#4: Eliminate Distractions 

In a technology laden era, it’s easier than ever to get distracted at work. There’s nothing wrong with taking breaks, but when alerts, beeps, and rings keep coming in, this can cut into work time. If you find yourself getting distracted often, which causes you to get behind on your tasks, it may be time to take a thorough look at what’s distracting you. 

If your phone is the culprit, try putting it in “Do Not Disturb” mode. You can even set automatic “Do Not Disturb” settings that will come on each and every day for whatever window of time you set them for. If surfing the internet on your laptop is more your style, maybe set yourself a rule where you can only surf the internet on your breaks or after you finish a few tasks on your to-do list. You may even want to schedule some time on your daily calendar that allows you to look through Instagram, TikTok, and text messages—maybe you’ll feel more productive with distraction time scheduled in.  

#5: Get Festive

Is there something on your holiday to-do list that you’ve been putting off year after year? Maybe ice skating, seeing the Nutcracker, or finally getting around to baking your grandma’s famous Christmas cookies? Schedule time in your calendar—now! If you mark your calendar as busy and make room for some fun time, you’ll take your mind off work, even if it’s just for a few hours. You may even gain some inspiration for holiday work promotions. 

If you have a team of employees, consider planning a fun holiday activity for everyone. Maybe a secret Santa gift exchange, ugly sweater challenge, or Zoom happy hour. Activities like this help boost team building skills and are a great way to reduce any stress that may come along with holiday related work tasks.