5 Things I Learned About Business Management While Christmas Shopping

Okay, you’ve caught me. Freelancedom has been quiet lately, aside from a couple of product placement posts. Aside from the fact that I’m obsessed with Christmas, I feel as if everything has come due at the same time. Suddenly, I’ve had articles to complete, blogger applications to read through, end-of-year posts to plan, copy editing tests to complete, test drive posts to do up…I’ve been a stressed-out mess!

Conversely, I haven’t succumbed to holiday season stress at all. Indulging in Christmasy things is like a respite for me, and not one bit of it has been done begrudgingly (though I did lose a huge chunk of my life just in stringing up the lights on two Christmas trees).

Perhaps I should have applied my holiday prep tactics to my business practices. After the jump, 5 things I learned about business management while Christmas shopping:

1. Plan Ahead:

I’m sure you all know by now about my reliance on lists. I’m no different when it comes to Christmas. Before Thanksgiving had even arrived (yes, I’m one of those), I’d drawn up a list of every person I needed to shop for, accompanied by a list of their hobbies, and then accompanied by a list of possible gift ideas based upon these hobbies. I also drew up a list of tasks to be completed, such as putting up the decorations and buying new scented candles, dishes to be made, and ingredients needed for said dishes. Seeing everything in list form made it infinitely less overwhelming.

If only I hadn’t started slacking on my work-related to-do lists.

2. Pace Yourself:

The day after Thanksgiving, I demanded of my husband that we put all of the decorations up, immediately, including the tree, knick-knacks, new scented candles, stockings, etc. He was forced to rein me in considerably, so that the decorating actually took closer to a week. After that, I let things unfold at a more leisurely pace. I purchased most of my gifts online. I put aside a day for wrapping gifts. Another day involved a trip to the supermarket, and I spent two other evenings baking cookies with my mom. It was very low-key.

Similarly, you should lay out your schedule so that different projects can be handled on different days. When you try to accomplish everything at once, it’s easy to get burned out and, as a result, your work will suffer. Why torture yourself?

3. Don’t Procrastinate:

This one is tied in closely with pacing yourself.

Everyone knows that the closer you get to the eleventh hour, the more insanely crowded the malls, shops, and supermarkets are. The other day, my mother asked me — last-second — to do up roasted Brussels sprouts with pecans, and pimiento cheese dip, for Christmas day. I ended up going to both ShopRite (twice) and Whole Foods on Monday, at which point I wondered if anyone worked at all. Despite being the middle of the work day, the parking lots and streets were completely full. Stressful! Wasn’t I glad that the rest of my shopping and wrapping had been done weeks ago!

My work is another story entirely. At times, I have trouble really sitting down and focusing on a project until I know that I’m out of time. At which point I become She-Ra, Princess of Power, doing up five projects in a single bound! The funny thing is, I’ll let myself stress about all the things I have to work on for weeks on end…but when I finally get down to it, it’s never as awful or involved as I imagined it would be. I would have felt much better if only I had gotten things out of the way earlier. Also, starting in on things earlier allows time for emergency situations, such as disappearing interview subjects, corrupt file issues, etc.

4. Follow the Path of Least Resistance:

Even if it’s two months till Christmas I still avoid the mall. This year, I did the bulk of my shopping online. After all, as a products blogger, I’m a pro now (or should be) at finding the perfect, quirky, original gifts for people…the types of gifts you can’t find in your neighborhood department store. I also decided to take some of the pressure off by going the e-card route. My husband and I did up a (somewhat-creepy but still hilarious) elf yourself card.

Remember this mantra: The customer is always right. Though I’m prone to thinking that the customer just doesn’t know any better, and that some standards of work are worth fighting for, don’t knock yourself out spending three hours copy editing a newsletter when the client expects you to finish it all within a half hour. Obviously, the tweaks they’re looking for from you are far less involved than the massive rewriting you wish you could do.

5. Revel in This Moment:

This is my favorite part. I spent an hour in early December just wandering around Fortunoff, looking at the glittering decorations and tiny electrical train sets. It made me giddy, and excited for the coming holiday season. A couple weekends ago, I traveled up to Boston for an eggnog party, and we took a side trip to Portsmouth, NH for a holiday-themed candlelight stroll at Strawbery Banke, where we learned about the making of wreaths, tried out roasted chestnuts, sipped hot cider while listening to a musical trio, and warmed ourselves in front of a bonfire. It was so charming! Nowadays, when I’m stuck at home and feeling lonely, I turn on the Christmas tree lights and play Bing Crosby songs. This time of year always seems so magical to me.

You know what else is pretty magical? The fact that we’re making it as freelancers…making money doing something we love, and enjoying the flexibility of being our own bosses. Whether that involves wearing slippers to work, taking a break for a walk to the park, or taking a time out for reality TV with a side of lunch, revel in it! We sometimes forget how good we have it. Remind yourself why you first became a freelancer. Did you do it so you could concentrate on the work you love? So that you could have more time for personal projects or outings with your loved ones? Don’t lose sight of that. Our lives and careers are pretty magical.