The holiday season is sacred. Regardless of you religious affiliation, or lack thereof, the holidays are a time to celebrate life, and all the things that make life worth living. Unfortunately for some, the holidays are viewed as a chance to get further ahead economically while the “slackers” are sipping eggnog and roasting their chestnuts. To each their own, I suppose.
So the holidays gradually become less and less joyous, as in the back of our minds we know that carrot is getting further away, and surely the stick is to follow. But what if I told you you could have your cake (and turkey, and stuffing, and mashed potatoes) and eat it until your belly is beyond your waistband too.
There are a few strategies that can give you peace of mind over the holidays, and keep the momentum from 2017 rolling on into 2018.
Get work done ahead of time.
Easier said than done, you say? Perhaps. But when you are doing your routine tasks next week, think about doubling the output and changing the dates. Even if you can only get the broad strokes done, it will still save you some time. Maybe it turns into a half day, but that’s better than nothing.
“But my work is with customers. I’m on demand” you say?
Delegate.
Full disclosure, I work for a call centre which you can delegate to. But even if my stocking is filled with that juicy call centre bonus, that doesn’t mean what I am saying isn’t true.
You can hire a call centre to answer your calls and deal with your customers and other callers. Do you know how far the telephone answering service has come in the past few years? You would be amazed at how well they can integrate into your business.
Taking the outsourcing leap over the holidays might just turn into a new day to day routine moving into 2018. What if you got an extra month of free time for Christmas?
And the operators? Don’t worry, they were going to be there anyway, and they will be handsomely rewarded for their time.
The final strategy for keeping up over the holidays without sacrificing what’s important is to…
Restructure your time.
If you are like most people, the horse is often driving the cart. Taking a moment to analyze your day, identify the time bottlenecks, and allocate tasks to times can add hours to your day. There is a lot of literature out there on productivity, and they all say similar things about organization.
The problem isn’t getting the horse to the water though, it is getting it to drink. If you find an online tool, like this one, and truly apply it to your life, you could end up having more time to get that shopping done, more time to get work done ahead of time, and you will surely have no problem catching up once Old Saint Nick leaves town for another year.
