Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hi and welcome back to another episode of Confessions in the Home Office. My name is Wendy Hill and be sure to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode of the podcast. But first we have an ad from our sponsor. Whether you're grilling up burgers for the weekend, roasting a steak for dinner, or just craving that perfect cut, Patriots Beef Club has got you covered with USDA prime beef from family owned farms that share your values. And it's not just about great beef. It's about supporting American farmers, strengthening local communities and keeping that true red, white and blue spirit alive. Plus, with flexible subscription plans, you'll never run out of top tier beef again. So what are you waiting for? Join the club and experience what it means to eat like a True American. Visit patriotsbeefclub.com America Today and learn more about the packages available and get started. That's PatriotsBeefClub.com America where the beef as bold as your patriotism and we subscribe to this and it has changed the way that we think about cooking and everything. Our beef. I've been kind of staying away from it and just because I felt like all the grease fat, not sure I'm sure where the meat was coming from. This has been great for us. So I would definitely recommend that you check out that link. So today is the last episode that'll be released for 2024. So I believe this is episode 22 and the episode topic is really timely. So this one's about how to stay productive and present during the holiday season when you own your own business.
[00:01:37] I always hear people talking about trying to balance and work life balance. And I've said it before but I always say juggle instead of balance. I feel like that if I'm focusing on balancing, I'm focusing on trying to make all that work. To me it's all about being with family, being with friends and getting things done. So to me there's juggling. There's some days where I'm going to have to be more involved with the business and there's going to be some days where I'm not going to be able to do as much and be out doing things with family or friends or here at home. So to me it's just get it done. Stop worrying about all the balance. Juggle. Keep a list. Make it happen. When you own a business, you're juggling.
[00:02:21] So let's be real. At the end of the year a lot of people are winding down. Either kids are out of school or they finished up exams for the semester or people are just using up their PTO for the year. And, you know, those last two weeks, people don't even know what day it is. They're hanging out, they may be taking a trip, they may be cleaning up their house, and everybody just kind of goes into this fog. So I'll admit, sometimes during those last two weeks, I don't know what day of the week it is, but I feel like those last two weeks make a huge difference in my business. In fact, I get really excited about it, kind of geeked out about it, because most of the time, clients are out of town or they're going to be out of town part of the time or out of the office. And this gives me two weeks to kind of wrap things up, see how the year went. I'm always checking to see how that's going, but really kind of take some time and do that, do some administrative cleanup and get ready for the next year. And so those last two weeks sometimes have been the weeks that I close the biggest deals in my business, because clients that are really serious about getting going for the next year, they're either ready to up what we're doing, or there's people that you've been talking to or people that haven't been sure and they're ready to get going. So even though we're doing Christmas, we're doing New Year's, we're spending time with family sometimes, those have been some really exciting weeks where all of a sudden I'm writing a proposal or assign proposals coming into my email just at the last minute. So it's pretty fun. So. And also, if I didn't work for those two weeks and just decided I was gonna, you know, veg out, not do anything, I would have a major case of the Sunday scaries that first week back when everybody's back at work. And I know people say, oh, if you own your own business, you shouldn't have the Sunday scaries. Oh, yeah, you do, because it's you, and you're the one who's making everything happen. So I always try to stay ahead. I always talk about that and get things done. There's no way that I would shut the door for two weeks. Even if I worked ahead and we got everything done, there's no way I would shut the door for two weeks and then just say that first Monday in January when everybody's back, oh, I'm gonna go turn on my computer for the first time. That would be absolutely insane. So I have just a couple of tips. My first tip is I don't go completely off the radar, but I also don't burn myself out. The key is doing like strategic, intentional work. So I go back over and look at revenue and see what's happened with clients, clients that have gone up, clients that have changed their contracts, new clients that have come on, that type of thing. But I carve out a little more time and work on the reporting for this. And then I set goals for the year, the quarter and the month. So I don't start with what am I gonna do for January? I think about what do I wanna do, what am I wanna do for the whole next year? And then what do I wanna do for each quarter? And then I break it down into month. Sometimes I break it down into like two week segments. But I feel like if I'm doing that, it just kind of gets crazy and it gets stressful. But sometimes I will even go back and figure out daily revenue. That would be a private podcast episode that I can do. Kind of geek out and work on the numbers and figure out revenue by day and that type of thing. It's actually kind of fun. So that's when I do a lot of admin work that my office, of course, is in the house. And I feel like December is when everybody drops off their Amazon boxes in here, or this person's coming by the house. I don't need them to see this. Or my husband will say, can you wrap this? Because I don't like to wrap. And so my office, the other side that you can't see, just stacks up with Amazon boxes everywhere.
[00:05:57] This is when I also change over my calendar. I put everything in my phone. But I'm also a paper planner person, so that's kind of when I have time to do that. And shopping for a planner is a big deal for me. That's on the list for this week.
[00:06:11] And then I work for two to three hours in the morning. Most mornings I won't work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, maybe the day after my dad turns 80 on the 27th, so we probably won't work that day.
[00:06:23] But I get up early anyway, so that's when I should go ahead and get everything done. So when everybody else is up, awake, ready to go, I have some time to go do some things in the afternoon. So I don't feel like I'm ever really behind or that I don't get to go do things at the holidays. I feel like I kind of get to do it all. So the other thing is, is I make a list. What I'm Working on this weekend is making a list of things I have to get done those last two weeks. And then the next list is things I would like to get done because I feel like if you stick it all on there, you're going to be overwhelmed. But if there's like three or four things you've got to get done, when you get those done, you check them off and it's great. And then you can move on to the next list. So that's that. And then the next thing is just communicating with clients and with family so I don't send out this big email of like, hey, I'm, you know, I can't be accessed these days, or I'm not going to be here these days, or you can't email me these days.
[00:07:18] You know, clients go off the radar a lot during Christmas and New Year's, but some don't. I check in with each one and say, when is your business shut down? Are you going to be around? Are you totally gone? Or are you going to be checking email? Or that, that project we're working on, should we touch base during that time about it? And they'll tell you, they'll say, don't talk to me, I'll be reading your emails, but I don't want to talk to you until January 10th. Others will say, yeah, I need to throw some things your way, but don't worry about it.
[00:07:48] So I just kind of go from that, from that standpoint and I don't say, you can't reach me, you can't do this.
[00:07:55] There's things that have to get done and build. And so that's, that's part of the beauty of it is I want to help them and also just kind of keep things going a little bit. Definitely on a, on a reduced amount though. So the other thing is just talking about boundaries with family. So both of my kids are out of the house now. They're in apartments at college and so they're in off campus apartments. So their dorms didn't shut down and they didn't have to come home, that type of thing. And they're not that far away. So they'll be in and out over the next two, two and a half weeks or so and maybe almost three weeks. And my husband is a professor, so he's been done since like December 3rd or something like that. We were laughing, saying, you're gonna be home for like 35 days. So we're newlyweds, so that's a great thing. But he likes to sleep in. My kids when they're here, they like to sleep in. So it's good. I can get things done and then we can do things lunchtime or afterwards or later in the day and it all works out. But I definitely say if I need to work more, I'll say tomorrow I'm not going to be able to do much. I've got to get these things done or tomorrow is pretty free if you want to go do something. So it's just all about keeping the lines of communication open.
[00:09:06] So really, when it comes down to it, I feel like you just kind of find the sweet spot again. I'm not about balance. I'm more about juggling and what works for you. Instead of worrying about having all this balance, just figure out what has to get done, what would be nice to get done. And if you decide that you want to take the full two weeks off, that's fine. But for me, I feel like that it keeps the stress down and kind of just keeps things going. And believe me, I still have plenty of time off. I still feel like I've kind of gone in that two week twilight zone where nobody really knows what's going on before the new year. But it's a great time to reflect and it's a great time to go ahead and get things ready because I really think 2025 is going to be a great year. I had a busy year business wise. I also had a really busy year personal. On the personal side, my daughter graduated from high school, I got married, my husband got his doctorate. I moved both kids into off campus apartments. That was a crazy day.
[00:10:05] And life is completely different. I'm an empty nester now after all this time of working at home and having kids, running in and out of the office all the time. So I think 2025 is going to be a great year.
[00:10:16] We got a lot of those big things kind of handled and taken care of in 2024 and just already talking with clients and talking with prospects. I feel like a lot of people are really excited about next year. So we'll see.
[00:10:31] I think that's it for right now. And just from. Just remember you're not really missing out by working some.
[00:10:39] You know, like I was saying, some people want to take those two weeks off, that's fine. But stay engaged, think about things. This is a great time to like jot down goals in a notebook or kind of figure out, hey, I made this much money, but I can make this much money next year or I want to scale back in these areas or I want to add something else on.
[00:10:56] So getting a few things knocked out will get you ahead for next year. So until next time, this is me signing off from Confessions from the Home Office, and I will see you again in 2025.
