Coping With Holiday Halt Syndrome

From Susan Payton:

This time of year, everything seems to slow down. Employees take vacation time. Holiday parties take precedence. Decisions aren’t made quickly. Does your office have a case of the holiday halt, where everything grinds to a stop until January?

While it’s to be expected that business will slow down during the holiday season, it’s no excuse to keep from being productive.

Get organized

If you’re like me, your desk is a paper magnet. I keep telling myself I’ll get around to sorting through all of it, but frankly, I don’t have the time. The slow season is the perfect opportunity to take on all those organizational projects you’ve been meaning to do. Getting more organized can help your productivity year round.

• Clean off your desk and sort through paperwork. Tackle one item at a time.

• Consider how you can better organize your files to make the ones you use the most readily available.

• Invest in desk storage and organization tools to keep your area tidy.

• Go through computer files and delete ones you don’t need, move files you may need later to your server and create folders to keep everything easy to find.

Wise up

If you’ve got a stack of industry publications, books, whitepapers and webinars you’ve been meaning to catch up on to get smarter in your field, now’s the time. Dedicate an hour or two of your day to learning about new trends, tools and technology that can make your business more successful. Verizon’s Small Business Center and BizLaunch are great resources for webinars for small business owners, and Small Business CEO lists plenty of places to find ebooks and other information.

Find temporary employees

Depending on what type of business you’re in, you may need to find people to work during the holidays while many are taking vacation. Start by asking if any of your employees want to make some extra money by taking on additional hours, then consider freelancers or temp workers. Plan ahead, as you know that every year you’ll have a reduced workforce during December.

Keep marketing

This time of year, it’s easy to spend a little less effort on marketing, but keep in mind, you have the chance to get a leg up over the competition if you keep marketing steady. Focus more of your social media updates around holiday-related topics for an extra ounce of fun and good cheer, rather than pushing for sales and clicks. Write blog posts with a holiday twist, and let your hair down a bit. This is your chance to really connect with your customers, as everyone’s in a great mood during the holidays (except those procrastinating last-minute shoppers!).

Your business doesn’t have to waste away the holiday season. Use this time to catch your breath and get a game plan for how you’ll rock in 2012!

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/coping-with-holiday-halt-syndrome

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