Working and Playing During the Holidays: Some Tips

Here in the US, it's Thanksgiving week. Everyone everywhere is less than a month from Christmas. People who don't observe Christmas may observe Hanukah or Kwanza, and we all have a new calendar year coming up in sight.

I have developed some routines that help me stay focused on still getting work done, even with family, friends, and food providing greater distractions than usual. Maybe some of these will be helpful for you. If you have other methods, please share them in the comments.

A key thing is to create a schedule, a realistic one. That is, you may have somewhat less work time than usual. When do you expect to be taking off time? I write in events I know about. For example, my church has a potluck on the day before Thanksgiving, and I will be taking a side dish. So what do I want to take? When should I make it? If I need to buy ingredients, combine that trip with one for Thanksgiving.

The holiday itself will be a day of more cooking and cleanup than usual, as well as more of a feast! We aren't big sports fans, but if we were, I would write that in my calendar.

The day after Thanksgiving is a big shopping day, commonly called Black Friday. if you have anything to do as a marketer, that should be in your schedule earlier in the week or earlier in the month. As a customer, are there things you want to do? Keep in mind that Black Friday is becoming more of a season than just a day!

December includes Hanukah, the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve. Which ones do you celebrate? If you don't take part in any, keep in mind that other people's celebrations may impact your time.

For these holidays, I have three categories of things to do:

[1] Buy or make gifts and get them mailed off in time.

[2] Send out our annual holiday email newsletter,
with printouts for our relatives and friends who aren't online.

[3] Decorate the house and front porch.

I also have a habit of using the week between Christmas and New Year's to do some big sewing project that I haven't found time for. One year, I made slipcovers for an armchair. Another year, I sewed myself a long dress. This year, it's going to be cleaning up my sewing room and tackling some mending.

January is an excellent time for some planning about the coming year. But that's a good topic for another post!

Do you have any other ways you set yourself up for the season?