It’s that time of year again. We’re headed into the holidays which brings great opportunities for sharing with family and friends and many demands on your time. We all want to do everything during holidays and feel an intense pressure to do it all perfectly. And that includes our business. But how do we juggle all of our responsibilities and desires during the holiday season and still work to have a thriving business?

Here are some of the things I do to try to juggle both holiday time with family and my business.

  • Set realistic expectations for your family time. You can’t do everything. You can’t be at every event. Or go to every holiday activity. That sounds fun and exciting, but you just simply can’t do it all. So, set realistic expectations for what you can do. Pick the ones that will mean the most to you as a family and do those. A big one for me is baking cookies with my daughter. We love to plan what cookies we are going to make. Make the dough together. She is the designated taste tester. And then we decorate them together. Those are memories that will last forever.
  • Set realistic expectations for your business. Let’s face it, you are just simply not going to get the time to do everything you want to do for your business during the holiday season. And you just won’t be able to be as productive during the holidays as you are the rest of the year. So, stop trying. And remember, other people aren’t as productive either. They are not going respond as quickly. They are not going to pay as much attention to the things you’re offering and saying. So be realistic because you could spend a lot of time working on things and have it fall on deaf ears. So, to be realistic choose a few key priorities that you’re going focus on during the holiday season for your business. Maybe it’s getting your systems in place so that they are ready for the new year. Finalize your 2018 plans. Schedule follow up meetings early in January with people you have met networking. If you get those meetings on people’s calendars now next year you will be getting right to work.
  • Cut yourself some slack. The holidays don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be perfect in your business every day of the week. Each day you need to show up and do your best. But that doesn’t mean that you must do everything perfectly every day. So, this time of year especially cut yourself some slack.

So, by setting realistic expectations on both fronts you can decide what to do and how to do it well. It’s better to do fewer things during this time, and do them well, then do you everything not very well. Make a pact with yourself that this holiday season you’re going to set realistic expectations and cut yourself some slack. That you’re going to find ways to enjoy your business and your family and the holidays overall and not be miserable by the time December 31st rolls around.

By: Amy Matthews, CEO, AMI LC