The holiday season can be both exciting and stressful. When you’re trying to run a small business while you decorate, shop for presents, and bake (or eat) cookies, the stress can sometimes be overwhelming.
Thankfully, there are some super simple tips, tricks, and tools that can help you actually enjoy the holidays – without neglecting your business.
Schedule Your Days
When it seems like you have a million and one things to do, organization is a definite must. You can use apps like Any.do and Evernote to take notes and keep track of all of your tasks, so nothing falls through the cracks.
It’s also important to budget your time. And not just your entrepreneur time – you’ll need to schedule in some time for holiday prep, too. Apps like Planner Plus can help you with this part. Once everything’s laid out, you can relax and be confident that you can get everything done without any extra stress.
Get Out of the Office
Who says getting work done means being stuck in the office all day? It’s never been easier than right now to collaborate and keep in touch from anywhere you happen to be. That means you can log on and get some work out of the way while you wait for the turkey to brine. To keep your documents and projects up-to-date and accessible, you can use a project management app like Trello and a file-sharing tool like Dropbox.
You also want to make sure that clients, partners, and employees know your schedule and can reach you if they need to. A virtual phone system like Grasshopper comes in handy here – you can include the hours you’ll be available in your custom main greeting and use call forwarding to send important calls to your cell phone.
Get Festive
Getting work done during the holidays doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun. After all, nothing’s better than a little holiday cheer to motivate and help you plow through your workload.
Whether you have a traditional office space or just a designated room in the house, decorate your workspace. Bring in snow globes and a Charlie Brown tree, and don’t underestimate the mood-setting power of a holiday-scented candle. Another way to incorporate a little cheer is to listen to holiday music while you work. Spotify’s Jazzy Christmas playlist is just right for getting festive without sacrificing productivity.
Running a small business doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the holidays. With a little extra prep and plenty of organization, you can enjoy the best of both worlds this season.
