We are less than 30 days until we ring in a new year and a new decade. Are we the only ones asking ourselves where this year went? No? Okay fewf…
Things are getting crazy! Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, business owner with multiple employees, a maker or creator – the end of the year madness is real. Deadlines are coming up at full speed, sales are increasing and not to mention, we’re all just trying to fight off a never ending cold.
It’s a time where burnout is more common than not. When everything is happening at once, we tend to take on too much and leave little time to manage are mental, physical and emotional health.
So what exactly is burnout? Everyone experiences it a little differently – but a common behaviour is taking on too much and literally ‘running on empty’. Typically you experience more stress than normal, anxiety, panic attacks, depression and just an overall feeling of being overwhelmed trying to keep your head above water.
Let’s be real, it will take a lot of experience to manage the chaos of this time of year, but we’re here to help with 5 ways to overcome holiday burnout.
1. Set some non-negotiables
These are literally what they sound like – non-negotiable things in your life. Whether it’s a hard stop at a certain time of day, no phones (aka emails and scrolling) while you eat, coffee in silence in the morning or x amount of hours of sleep at night. Tell yourself the things that are important for you to stay sane and stick to those every day no matter what. Keeping those little routines that are sacred to you will keep your cortisol levels a little bit lower.
2. Be realistic with your deliverables
You’ve set timelines, processes and delivery expectations all year, for the same amount of time – every time. What’s different now? During the holiday time, the demand is higher so we often overcommit – which is fine, if you can manage it. Be realistic with turnaround times and your deliverables and be honest with what you can commit to. It’s never good to overcommit and under deliver. Stick to what you know best and be transparent with who you work with – everyone knows you are only human!
3. Take a daily breather
Seems simple enough and sure it’s not going to relieve all your problems but it’s something. Take 5 minutes each day to sit in silence and just breathe in and out, slowly. It’s a simple task but it will give your body and mind a minute to catch up and calm down from the stress of the day. We are constantly in go-mode not giving ourselves a second to catch up, so taking a few minutes here and there to refocus our breath will do us wonders.
4. Sleep
Once again, you know all year long you function well on a certain number of hours of sleep per night. During the craziness of the holidays, we often run on fumes getting hours less than we normally would and substituting coffee for water. Not good! Check in with yourself and remind yourself what you need to be your most optimal self. If it’s 8 hours, stick to it – you won’t be good to anyone if you run yourself on low.
5. Make time for non-work-related things
It’s a busy time of year and overcommitting to things usually means we run out of time to do things outside of work – the stuff that makes us happy. It’s important to make time for things outside of work that take our mind off the craziness. It’s important to connect with family and friends, take a walk or get a sweat on – whatever it is, your body needs time to relax and do things you normally enjoy doing.
6. Remind yourself of your why
And… if all else fails, remind yourself of your why. During the chaos, we ask ourselves things like “why the hell am I even doing this”, as if to say what is the point if this is how I feel. Remind yourself that this is how you feel right now, not overall (well, we hope). Once you’ve done that, go back to reminder yourself of your why. Why you got started. Why you love what you do. Why you wanted to create this business. Why you work hard. We often lose sight of our why and feel disconnected to what lead our passion in the first place – remind yourself daily and it will keep you motivated to push through!
We are going through the same thing right now and learning how to manage the stressors that this season brings, whether it’s with work or personal.
What are some tools you use to overcome entrepreneur burnout, especially during the holiday season? We’d love to hear!
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