How To Get Ready to Take Time Off Over the Holidays

posted on:

November 18, 2019

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As a creative, you are most likely the main person in your business, so it is definitely hard to take a vacation or even to take time off over the holidays.

In fact, it sometimes feels like it takes more work to take time off than it does if you’d just keep on working, right?

We’re used to putting in the hours we need to run our business – working around the clock—day and night—answering emails, marketing our business, mapping out strategies, tackling client work, and more.

We convince ourselves that we can’t take a day off, weekend getaway, or week-long vacation without checking our business, because our business is our life—our livelihood.

We’re committed to it and its growth and we just can’t escape the feeling that all will come crumbling down if we disappear for any period of time.

I am asking you to STOP! We can’t live this way! We have to stop sacrificing the magic of the holidays and the moments we daydream about, because we are over committed to our business!

I know the feeling, but—BUT each year, I take from Christmas through New Years off completely. YEP! It’s true!

It’s my time to rest, recharge, and reset and I’m going to give you the simple steps I take to actually have an “inbox-free” AND work-free vacation.

I do use my time away to plan for the new year, but for me it’s a visionary creative outlet that recharges and inspires me as opposed to “work.”

Right—let’s get started. Here are 3 things you can start doing today, RIGHT NOW, to completely step away from your business and take a vacation over the holidays.

 

3 Things to Do Now to Prepare your business for Time Off Over The Holidays

  • Batch Your Content

Work ahead, work ahead, work ahead!! I can’t say that enough. AND—I know me saying that already feels like I’ve added more work to your plate, but hear me out.

When you carve out time to do prep work and batch your content, you’ll be amazed how much time you actually save. What is it that Einstein said…

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I’d spend  the first 55 minutes determining the proper questions to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than 5 minutes.”

Sounds…sciency, I know. And we’re talking content, not scientific problems, but the principle can be applied just the same.

When you carve out time to truly strategize and batch your content, it will take you way less time to actually create your content. I am sure that you have plenty of client sessions to be shared through the holidays. Did you run mini sessions that would fill your feed full of holiday joy? Who doesn’t love to see families snuggling or newlyweds in love?

Be sure to use what you have and not spend time creating new content. Plus, this completely frees up your mental space leading up to your vacation and on it.

  • Automate

Now that your content—blog posts, social media posts, and emails—are all written…

SCHEDULE THEM IN ADVANCE. The best part of this is…your audience won’t even know you’re gone, which means they’ll stay warm and toasty in spite of your absence because you won’t really BE absent in their minds.

They’ll get the same content they’re used to. My favorite ways to do this are via Facebook’s publishing tools, scheduling WordPress posts, automated emails in ActiveCampaign, and Planoly for Instagram (you can even schedule your stories – WHAT?!). (these are my affiliate links)

  • Be Open

This one is an easy one! Start letting your regular clients know now that you’ll be off. Give them the dates, so they’re aware. As you engage with new clients, talk openly about your “off dates” to them, too.

It’s a great idea to send out a reminder email, especially to your current clients who communicate back-and-forth with you regularly or who have a project in progress. Let them know that you’ll be off, but to please send any deliverables to you by their deadline dates even if they fall within your vacation period as you’ll get to them upon your return.

An auto-reply also works great here, too.

BONUS TIP: Don’t fall into the trap of logging on. If you do, it is a never-ending trap and you’ll miss out on the moments you and your family so diligently planned for.

I hope you plan to spend time with your loved ones and actually take time off over the holidays! 

 

After You Have Soaked In Your Precious Time Off

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