How to Opt Out of the Year-End Holiday Hustle at Work and Home
Applying Michael Hyatt’s Free to Focus to your Holiday Season
Photo by Ilyuza Mingazova on Unsplash
Does the calendar flipping to December cause increased stress and anxiety?
December tends to be the most stressful, busiest month of the year. It’s the time when we’re torn between our personal commitments and priorities and going hard at work to finish strong on the year’s goals, projects, and sales.
And while we may really want it to be the most wonderful time of the year, our to-do lists overflow with expectations and obligations, causing time stress, overwhelm, and frustration. Making it hard to remember the true meaning of the holidays.
Getting Clear
I’m in the middle of reading Michael Hyatt’s best-selling book, Free to Focus, and I already have a love-hate relationship with the concepts.
Hyatt’s take on productivity isn’t to do projects and tasks more efficiently, faster, or with fewer distractions. Quite the opposite.
His council is to do less. Yes, less. To find the sweet spot where your passion meets your proficiency and focus on those aspects.
As a corporate sales and marketing leader, I modeled this technique with my team. Yet now, as a solopreneur, the advice is a bit annoying. I don’t currently have the opportunity to delegate administrative or “back-of-house” tasks.
That said, when I check my ego, think broader, and apply the model’s premise to my life coaching business and personal priorities, magic happens.
Pull a Rabbit Out of Your Hat
So, again. It’s December. Raise your hand if you do the following at work:
Work evenings and weekends to finish this year’s projects
Cram in any extra progress on 2022 goals
Hustle to close pending sales
Host or attend an important (poorly timed) training
Schedule year-in-review meetings to get a jump start on the new year
And in your personal time:
Spend more than one-day decorating
Accept holiday party invitations (even if you’re not thrilled to go)
Sign up to make food or treats
Buy presents for ten or more people from ten or more stores
Travel
What if you opted out of the year-end holiday hustle? What if, this December, you did less?
OK. I get it. Most folks have a boss and a family and want to please them both.
However, what if you paused and took a few minutes to assess your current priorities, schedule, capacity, and mood? Is your plate already full trying to fit in all the tasks, errands, and events?
What if before agreeing to yet another thing (meeting, party, potluck item, office secret Santa gift, year-end reports, neighborhood decorating), you stopped and asked yourself, is this something I really want to or need to do?
Simply pausing to ask the question is worth celebrating! It means you’re paying attention to the quality of your life. That you’re present and self-aware and not automatically agreeing to appear friendly or be a good team player.
Give yourself permission to say, “No, thanks,” without giving in to the urge to explain and move on with your day.
No one is gonna protect your priorities or accomplish your goals for you. It’s your job to reflect on what you want and prioritize your time to meet those objectives. I call it radical responsibility.
It’s far from easy, but critical for your health and happiness.
The Outcome
As Nedra Glover Tawwab writes in her book Set Boundaries Find Peace,
Saying no is an act of self-care. It’s saying yes to your own mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Often we think we can do more than is actually possible. We want to be superstars at work and home. But time is an afterthought, and our well-being pays the price.
This December, I challenge you to give yourself the biggest gift — your peace of mind.
. . .
Rebecca Murauskas is a Life Coach for Professionals. She helps people be free of stress and overwhelm, reclaim their purpose, and feel fulfilled. Rebecca and her husband, Adam, abandoned their careers and moved to Panamá in 2019 to pursue passions for helping people heal. Take the free Time Saver Quiz and find additional content at RebeccaMurauskas.com.