Are you feeling that dreaded post-Christmas burnout? That feeling where you are so exhausted from working like a crazy person during the holiday season that your motivation level is sub-zero. If you are, you’re not alone. Lots of makers, myself included, experience this every year.
Give yourself a break
So, the first thing to do is to cut yourself some slack and give yourself some time to rest and recover from the intensity that fourth quarter requires in retail. You worked your booty off. You worked night and day to make sure that your customers received their items by Christmas. It’s time to chill out a bit. You deserve it, my friend.
While I have my reasons for being against putting your shop on vacation mode, I do extend my shop production time by a couple of days to allow a slower pace. If nothing else, I want to be able to work shorter days and spend some time with my family this time of year.
What’s the point of being self-employed if you can’t at least do that, right? In addition to allowing myself to work a little slower during the time between Christmas and New Year’s, I’ve found a couple of other things that can help me find my mojo again. Hopefully, they will help you too.
Tidy up your workspace
I don’t know about you, but my workspace looks like a complete disaster by the time the final Christmas order ships. I run my business from home, so my whole house looks like a disaster during busy season. If someone were to stop by unannounced, I would probably have to run out the back door and hide until they left. It’s just part of the Christmas struggle at my house.
By the end of the season, supplies and ideas get buried and lost – never to be seen again. There’s something about organizing my workspace that helps me to remember those “great ideas” that got lost along the way. Finding those long-lost supplies and sketches are a surefire way to jumpstart my motivation for the next year.
Just be sure to write down the ideas that you come up with so you don’t forget them again!
Goal plan for the next year
Speaking of jotting down ideas, writing down goals for the next year is a great way to shake those “I don’t want tos” after the holidays. I am a super goal-oriented person and checking things off of a list motivates me like no one’s business.
Take some time to reflect on your past year and how you would like to grow in the future. Think about what you want the upcoming year to look like and get really specific about how you will achieve it. For instance, one of your goals may be to get 500 followers on Instagram. Write down the actionable steps you will take to meet that goal (i.e., post every day, interact with people in your niche, etc.). Now, you have a list of more attainable goals to work towards that will keep you motivated along the way.
Research trends for the upcoming year
As a creative entrepreneur, reading trend reports from Pinterest, Pantone, or scrolling through new releases from popular big box stores helps to get me excited to create new product lines. It gets the creative juices flowing to see the new items that are trending for the upcoming season. Think about where your target audience spends their time online and look at those shops or social media platforms and take notes about how you can incorporate those trends in your shop. This helps to make a plan for the upcoming year and gives you something to get excited about.
Be patient with yourself
The most important thing to remember is to be patient with yourself. Feeling a bit burnt out after working through the holiday rush is perfectly normal. Listen to your body and allow yourself to rest and recover.
Through the years, I’ve watched fellow sellers not give themselves permission to recover after the holidays and it ultimately catches up with them. Pushing through that burnt out feeling and not providing a space for recovery can result in you feeling resentment towards your business that you’ve worked so hard to build. Give yourself some rest and grace. Then, you can start 2020 refreshed and ready to take it by storm.