Give yourself a break!

Most businesses I work with have some kind of seasonality – but each also seems to have a unique twist to it.

If you’re selling consumer goods which might be appropriate as Christmas gifts, then you’re crazy busy right now.  But after New Year’s, things probably slow to a crawl.

Or maybe you’re in a business which is linked to summer holidays, so things slow down for the entire winter.  Or vice versa.

Although it can be frustrating at times, I believe that seasonality is actually a useful thing.  Because we’re human, our bodies and our psyches are attuned to cycles: daily, monthly, yearly.  Imagine how tough it would be if you personally tried to operate at any kind of consistent level with no breaks about every week or so.  You’d move towards subsistence level.

Breaks are useful because they help you re-energize for the hard work ahead.  So after your crazy season – whenever that is – celebrate your progress, ponder the future, and give yourself and employees a little chance to build up steam again.

For myself, I’m planning to slow down a bit for the next couple of weeks, and build up some mental momentum for 2013.  It looks like it’ll be an exciting year!