12 Dec 3 tips to Succeed During the Busiest Month of the Year
We are in the THICK of the holiday season. Now that our world is full of cookies, shopping, and parties it makes it very easy to start overindulging and being very inactive in your day to day. While attending every single party, gift exchange and dinner sounds like the best life right now, it is important to stay focused and not take your eye off your goals. When you flipped your calendar to December 1st a world of distractions quickly appeared. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s you have 38 days! 38 days full of distractions and many unplanned activities. Enjoying holiday traditions is fun and very important for your soul, but the challenge for everyone, even the most productive and successful people is to successfully balance the last month of the year. We live in a world that is already full of distractions, but adding Christmas and everything in between to the mix, can truly turn your world into a state of chaos and missed opportunities. In order to keep your work in line and your business successful here are 3 tips to help you stay focused and productive through the holidays:
- Create a list all commitments: Sit down and make a table with two columns, The first column is for you to list items that you are invited to that will not contribute to your business. In the second column list the activities you MUST do—the ones that add value to your holiday season such as activities with your family, your church, and your circle of friends and community and of course business colleagues. Now, take a red pen and mark through all the activities in the first column. If you wrote it down as not contributing to your business it is clearly a distraction and not needed. It’s that simple. Seeing all your commitments on paper will increase your awareness of these potential distractions and give you an idea of what your calendar will look like,
- Fill up ALL “free” space on your calendar: You will most likely be so busy this month that you won’t know if its Tuesday or Sunday. Stacking your days is a must, especially during the holiday season. The days in December that are free from holiday activities (remember the important ones in column 2) must be filled with phone calls, meetings and goals. Establish a policy that during your free days you will commit to new levels of actions you did not think you were capable of. The more productive you are, the less distracted you’ll be in your business and the more you will accomplish.
- Set goals and crush them: Divide each hour into four 15-minute blocks of time, now set goals to see how much you can complete in each 15-minute block. Work fast and energetically to see how much you can accomplish—make it a game. When you manage your time this way, you start to move from one thing to the next with little room for disruption, therefore crushing your day and schedule. And remember, every minute this holiday season you are working away at your business, someone else might be attending cookie exchanges and social hours while you are ending your year on a high note!
When you lay out your holiday season in an organized and structured system it makes your life much simpler and you are able to be PRESENT in all your holiday commitments. You know for the entire holiday season if you have included it in your schedule there is a reason you are there and you will not be distracted. Your holiday will not be chaos but instead planned and focused. Although December might be your busiest month of year, you will still be successful thanks to my three tips. Successful people fully utilize the time they have, so do not let the last month of the year ruin all the hard work you put in to the other 11.
Merry Christmas to Everyone!!
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