It is that time of year again, time for everyone who works at home to get out their calendars and make sure that they plan ahead for a successful holiday season. With all of the family gatherings and other fun things that you want to do within the next couple of months, it is easy to get distracted from your work. However, if deadlines get missed or work piles up into an overwhelmingly large work load, you might not be feeling so merry or bright.
By planning ahead for work and play, you can set yourself up for a successful holiday season with your home based business and with your friends and family. You can begin by marking your planner or calendar with any events that you are aware of – Thanksgiving dinner, the kids’ school activities and vacations, Christmas visits with friends, holiday parties, and anything else that you may have going on. If there are events that you are undecided about attending, mark them in pencil and think about them throughout the rest of the planning process. It is okay to say no to some of those invites, especially if attending some events will cut into time that you need for work, sleep, and other things that are more important to you. Remember that you are planning a schedule that keeps your well being and the well being of your family a top priority so that you can enjoy the holiday season.
Next, write down all of the work – related assignments and tasks that you have on your plate right now. Schedule time into your planner or calendar to complete them, and make sure not to cut things too close as far as meeting deadlines is concerned. Finally, write out a to – do list with all of the things that you need to do around the house, your holiday shopping plans, cooking projects, and anything else that you want to do or need to do. Place the items from the to – do list on your schedule so that you commit to doing them at a specific time. For example, baking cookies should be fun. If you leave that project until the last minute, it could actually be stressful. By planning ahead, you will be able to enjoy baking and eating the cookies, instead of ending up in a situation where the cookies are eating at you.
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