Why I believe in living a life less ordinary
Family Life
Taking the pain out of prepping for Christmas
by Holly
Twas the weeks before Christmas and all through the land,
the founders were busy packing, making, creating,
oh, and of course, giving Santa and his elves a helping hand…!!
Yep, there is no getting around it — if you’re a female founder, running a small business in the busiest retail months of the year and also being ‘Mrs Christmas’ at home is no easy task. In fact, it is nearly enough to suck all the joy out of the entire festive period, and instead be a little more ‘Mrs Grinch’. It’s hard for anyone of course, but with women reportedly taking on around 40% more housework and childcare than men according to the Office of National Statistics¹, the issue is almost doubled for us.
So, with the festive season fast approaching, I thought it would be a good moment to share with you all some of my hard-earned tips and tricks to not just surviving, but thriving this Christmas.
‘Thriving’ I hear you shout, ‘THRIVING’??? Holly, what planet are you on…? I’m just about holding it together trying to hire more staff to pack, trying to source packaging, decide what to post on Instagram, keep the PTA at bay with the 12,732,309 emails and requests, write all the Christmas cards, buy all the presents, and do it all with festive cheer and grace.
But I promise, it is possible. So here goes…
Well, let’s start with the emotion that underpins all the feelings I have listed above — guilt. The guilt that you aren’t doing enough in any part of your life, that you are either failing at work, or your family, or personally in looking after yourself, or giving your friends enough time, or walking the dog enough.
Let’s stop here. Guilt is a wasted emotion, it serves you no purpose, it seeks only to sap your energy (which is running thin anyway). Guilt is also entirely your own making, you can choose to take on that guilt, or throw it away.
And choice is the keyword here — it is your responsibility to stop the Christmas burnout. No-one is going to jump in and do this for you, but what you will find is that when you share what is causing you to feel this overwhelm, you’ll be surprised how many people want to support you.
By nature, humans want to help (it was incidentally something Richard Reed discussed in his podcast episode) and it is true. I know for many years I had a tendency to want to put up the front that I had it all figured out and under control — but what a relief it is to share with those around you and as soon as you do share, you will see hands going up all over the place wanting to pitch in.
Before I continue on how to make this year easier, I did want to touch on what you can do now, to get yourself into the best position possible for next year. I mean we are all here for The Good Life right? Christmas comes around every year, so what can we do each year to make our good lives that bit sweeter?
One of the things we do at Holly & Co is to get together at moments throughout the year (but in this case specifically around the Independent Awards for example) and learn the highs and lows of a project. We debrief straight after, put it down on paper, and file it away — because it’s very easy to forget, especially a year later whilst in the busiest parts of the year. So then you come back a year later and make all the same mistakes. After an extremely intense period of work, it can be one of the things you least (let alone the team!) want to do. You want to lock it away and not think about it again for another year, but trust me, you’ll thank yourself next year.
Oh, and talking of your future self, resist the temptation to down tools on the last postage date. What will your future self thank you for in the time between the last postal date and the first day back in January? What could you use this time for — even though you might be on your knees, fingernails scraping at the thought of a family Christmas! Push on through. If you put this work in now, the year ahead will feel immeasurably better, and we all want to start back eager to crack on, rather than tidying up the year before.
And choice is the keyword here — it is your responsibility to stop the Christmas burnout. No-one is going to jump in and do this for you, but what you will find is that when you share what is causing you to feel this overwhelm, you’ll be surprised how many people want to support you.
So back to this year, the here and now. It’s time to get planning. There is no such thing as ‘too early’ when you’re planning — almost when one Christmas finishes another should start. I leave nothing to chance when it comes to the Christmas period, the more I can prepare for staffing, ensuring we are fully resourced for the extremely busy periods, the better.
This is also the same for your personal life. I like to look at the busy last quarter and map the non-negotiables (school plays, the Christmas discos, the other half’s family pre-Christmas gathering)… Essentially, it’s likely to be all the moments where there will be heavy family logistics where I try and get as far ahead as I can — there has been known to be a calendar up on the wall so that the whole family understands the peaks and troughs of the weeks ahead.
Now, repeat after me ‘I cannot do it all.’ Accepting that you cannot do everything, you cannot attend every school play, charity fundraiser, Christmas card design raffle — so let it go. What can you win at? Outside of your non-negotiables, decide who you want to see this Christmas, which playdates would be enjoyable, and be proactive in organising them. Politely decline everything else. This is a time of year that is incredibly important for your business, and those that care about you will understand. January is only just around the corner. Do not try to be all things to all people.
By planning, you understand personally and professionally where the pinch points are going to be and this will be where your network will come into play. Who can you ask for help who might enjoy the excitement of the rush of Christmas orders and who might owe you a favour (or 10!) from the year of pick-ups?
And now to face the true issue of Christmas: how do you not only run (and nail) your business’s Christmas but how the f*** do you also materialise as Mrs (or Mr) Christmas to everyone who still counts on your caring nature too?
Oh, and talking of your future self, resist the temptation to down tools on the last postage date. What will your future self thank you for in the time between the last postal date and the first day back in January?
Here are 5 things that I’ve learnt along the way (painfully!):
- Order your Christmas cards early and try to write them over the months before December.
- Wrap gifts as they arrive in the post.
- Cull your Christmas card and gift list every year — maybe you need to get the hint on the 15th time you’ve sent a gift to someone and not received one back that they are not that into you (and that’s ok)!
- Oh and do you not have a Christmas list? Create a spreadsheet of names, addresses, kids’ names etc, mark each column with the year and write what you are giving them. This stops someone who looks like they should be brought socks from receiving a pair every year. And if you get their shoe size, add that in, too.
- I have (and maybe that’s because I’ve been brought up by NOTHS’ businesses) a personalised notepad — and at the top of every page is my thank you list. Dreaded by the boys, it sits there every Christmas, and each of us have a page where we note who has given us what, ready for an old-fashioned thank you card in the new year.
You can do this. You were built for multitasking so now is your time to shine. Try to squeeze the joy out of the moments, try to embrace the buzz of the orders, the hecticness of life, and accept that no Yuletide is perfect. That’s how you thrive at Christmas.
Source:
Images:
Thrive calligraphy – Meticulous Ink. ‘Do not let yourself burn out’ candle by Mend your head & Jack Laverick. ‘It’s the most stressful time of year’ card by Paper Sheriff.
Christmas trends 2021
The festive season’s fast approaching but there are some great pointers here on how to position your business for Christmas.