What to do in the week between Christmas and New Year’s
It’s the holidays. For some (retailers, restaurants, and service industries), that means business is picking up. But for many of us, the slowest week of the year falls right between Christmas and New Year’s. Half your office is taking holiday time, and even if they aren’t your clients are.
This may seem like the perfect time to take a week off—and you may decide to do just that! But it can also be a golden week of regained productivity, a chance to finally take advantage of a break in work to regain your footing and hit the new year running. Here are our top suggestions for making the most of your holiday business slow down.
1. Clean, rearrange, or redecorate the office.
A cluttered or disorganized environment takes its toll on productivity. Take this opportunity to clean house—physically and digitally. Dust off the office shelves and put your email inbox in order.
But don’t stop there! Here at build/create, some of our favorite days are when we get to rearrange the office. We finally find a way to make better use of that cluttered corner, or we move the couch to be more welcoming to visitors. You can even think about investing in new furniture or decorations. Why not? It’s the holidays. Get that poster. Go wild.
2. Learn some new skills.
You know that online training course you’ve been meaning to invest in? Or those informational PDFs you downloaded but never read? Or that webinar you bookmarked but never watched? Now’s your chance.
The holiday business slow down is a perfect opportunity to learn a new skill or beef up your business knowledge. And you can bet those new skills and insights will serve you well as you move your business forward in the new year.
3. Try out some new tech.
Been thinking of switching CRMs? Curious about a new project management system? Itching to put a new social media scheduler through its paces? This is the week for you.
New tech comes with a learning curve, and it’s best to get comfortable when you’re not under pressure. You’re less likely to make a mistake, and you have more time to catch one if you do, if you’re experimenting during your holiday business slow down.
4. Plan ahead.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is my favorite time to work out upcoming content calendars, plan larger content pieces, and blog ahead. A lot of marketing relies on forward thinking, but it’s easy to fall behind. I like to take advantage of the lull to recover so that I don’t feel so stressed later in the year.
But what’s true for marketing holds true for many other areas as well. You can use this chance to pull your tax documents together, research some sales opportunities, or schedule some business conference trips. You’ll be glad to check some of these items off your list sooner rather than later.
5. Focus on your internal projects.
When we get busy, we often shove our internal needs to the side and prioritize our clients. However, internal projects are often just as important in the long run: they help build sales, increase efficiency, and help prevent small problems from turning into big ones.
Has HR brought some staffing problems to your attention? Time to take care of them before they become a crisis. Is your rebranding campaign stuck? Pull your office together to brainstorm. Did you put your web project on hold? Time to start it up again.
Use your holiday business slow down to start the new year right.
However you chose to spend your inter-holiday lull, you’ll be grateful for the progress you made once work starts up again. Even if you take the week off, you can use the time to restore your energy so that you start the new year off fresh.