Take action NOW to relax over the holidays

Can you feel it? Fall is in the air.  As I write this, the kids are back in school and the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back on the menu at my local Starbucks.  I feel my “lazy days of summer” mentality being slowly replaced by a buzzy feeling of wanting to get some stuff done!  It feels good, actually - I’m ready to get back to work! 

 If you’re like me, you may be feeling a bit behind after taking some time off last summer for vacations and family time, and the temptation can be to just jump in and start putting out fires as quickly as you can. 

But if you do that you’ll miss a golden opportunity to make this holiday season the best ever. 

 Did you know that the weeks between Labor day and Thanksgiving are the most productive of the year? Think about it, and you’ll know it’s true.  September comes and the phone starts ringing with new work and current clients who are finally back from vacation and ready to move forward on their projects.  They feel it too.  What I’ve noticed as a designer is that if I’m mindful during this time, it can be the most productive and profitable time of the year.

 But more than that, with a little planning right now, you can plan to get your work done well before the holidays and take some time off, without seeing a dip in your income. 

 Before I learned this and took advantage of it, I used to just work along through fall, business as usual.  I didn’t look ahead at my deadlines and milestones so I could get tthem done before the holidays hit.  As a result, it seemed like I was always stuck at my computer trying to finish some deadline over the holidays - feeling angry and resentful - when all I wanted to be doing was relaxing with my family.  Luckily, there is a better way! 

 It may seem early, but the time to head this off at the pass is NOW.  Right now you have plenty of time to adjust your schedule so you get things done early and don’t leave anyone (including yourself!) hanging over the holidays.  You have time to work extra hours if needed to earn the extra money to take some time off (and afford presents!) as well.  Neither of these things just fall in your lap, you have to take charge of your projects and your schedule to make them happen.  

Here’s a few quick steps you can take right now to take more time off this holiday season.

Step 1: Plan your calendar

Pull out your calendar and look at the months of November and December.  Mark off special dates, like the holidays, the kid’s school vacation, times you will travel or have family in town.  Is there anything worse than having a deadline when you have family in town?  Gah - we’re going to prevent that this year.  What days/weeks will you be taking off completely and what days/weeks will you be working a reduced schedule? 

 Step 2: Plan your schedule

As mentioned above, what kind of schedule do you want to work over the holidays?  Will the kids be in camp and it’s business as usual, or will you plan to wake up early and get your hours in before the family is awake?  You don’t have to figure out all the details now, but the main thing is to have an idea of how many work hours you’ll miss so you can plan ahead to replace that income.

 Step 3: Plan your income

Okay, here’s where you can be proactive and “pay” yourself for your time off.  How many hours/days will you be taking off over the holidays, including time off and working a reduced schedule?  Plan for your ideal scenario.  As in, ideally, you’d take off the week of Thanksgiving and the two weeks over Christmas and New Years.  Plan for what you want, adapt as needed.  How many hours of work will you miss?  What’s the total? 

 Now you’re going to take that total number of hours, and spread them over the weeks you have between now and Thanksgiving so you won’t see a loss in income.  

 Here’s an example: 

I’m looking at my calendar and I see that my daughter has the whole week of Thanksgiving off, as well as the last two weeks of the year.  I want to take that time off as well.  Since I normally bill 25 hours a week, that would be 3 weeks off x 25 hours = 75 hours of lost income.  

 Now, instead of stressing out about that lost income, it’s early enough now to do something about it.  I have 10 “regular” weeks until the end of the year.  I can take those “lost” hours and spread them out evenly over those weeks, and earn back that income in advance without even noticing it.  

 When I do the math (75 hours divided by 10 weeks) I get just 7.5 extra hours per week, about an hour and a half extra a day.  Can I handle that in order to take time off over the holidays stress-free without losing a dime in lost income?  Absolutely! 

 See why doing this now is the key?  It’s early enough to spread those lost hours out without feeling it.  If we had to try and make up the hours in just a few weeks, it would be painful!  

 Step 4: Plan your projects.

Now, if you’re not in the habit of planning all your projects on the calendar from start to finish, this may seem daunting. I created the Design Roadmap System to teach designers how to do just that, but I realize most of us aren’t there yet!  So for most of us, what this will look like is roughly planning out your milestones for each of your projects on the calendar.  

 Look at the calendar and your to-do list for each project.  When are the major milestones / presentations / deliverables due? Can you plan for them to get done before the holidays hit? Can you make yourself some goals to get the major work out of the way early?  Is there anything that needs to be put off until the new year?  I know it feels early for this, but it’s really not.  If you have a full workload, and now that you’re looking at how much time you may be taking off, it may be time to start telling new prospects that you can begin their project next year (if you aren’t already!).  

 Step 5: Communicate, communicate, and communicate again. 

Now that you have a  plan of attack, don’t keep it to yourself!  Let your clients and your contractors know what your schedule is going to be coming up.  I always say,
“Our office is closed the week of Thanksgiving and between Christmas and New Years”.   

 When I give my clients their Design Roadmap (project plan) at the start of the project, these weeks off are listed.  No apologies!  No excuses or reasons!  This is a normal thing to do, and you're simply letting them know so they can plan as well. 

 While you’re having this conversation, get their schedule as well.  I know I’m not the only one who has had a whole week of meetings planned for a crucial phase of the project only to have the client drop their travel plans on me at the last minute.  Not because they didn’t have it planned, but because I didn’t ask.  Whoops - there’s a whole week of work, lost!  Ask!  

 And don’t think letting them know about your time off once is enough.  Mention it every time you meet with them.  

 Step 6: Unplug and enjoy your holidays

Now imagine it’s December 13th and all your work is done for the year.  The bank account is full since you worked all those “extra” hours this fall.  Now there’s nothing left to do except turn on that “out of office” auto reply in your email and close that laptop.  Time to put your feet up and enjoy that yummy cup of cocoa or hot toddy - you earned it, my friend!  

Whatever holidays you celebrate (or don’t celebrate!), there’s something special about taking time off at the end of December.  It’s a golden opportunity to reflect on the year, think about what you want to create for the next year, reflect on your growth and set goals.  It’s such a wasted opportunity to work full-on and then just blast into January, worn out and exhausted from the year just completed.  

 Instead, this year you get to really take time for some much-needed rest, rejuvenation and head into the new year refreshed and ready to take on the world… or at least that new kitchen you’ll be designing!  

 Want some support in completing this exercise? Schedule a 1:1 coaching call and we can knock it out together.  You don’t have to go it alone, and if you’re anything like me, this “to do” is much more likely to become  “done” if someone is holding you accountable!  Click Here to schedule a coaching call.  

 If having this level of control over your schedule to make the most of your holidays feels like an impossible dream, I assure you that it is not.  If you’re ready to take this exercise to the next level, the Design Roadmap System gives you all of the tools you need in order to take control of your workload so you can take back your quality of life - this holiday season, and all year round.  

 After years of feeling resentful that I could never seem to get it together to plan ahead and truly enjoy my holidays the way I wanted, the Design Roadmap finally gave me the tools I needed to make that elusive dream happen.  

 You deserve to take some much-needed time off at the end of the year.  With the Design Roadmap system, and maybe a little 1:1 coaching, it’s easy!  You got this!