'Tis the Season for Distractions: 4 Ways to Stay Motivated This Holiday Season

Unless Ebenezer Scrooge is your spirit animal, there’s a good chance that you’re a fan of the current seasonal vibes.  

However, amidst the holiday candle hoarding and off-tune Mariah Carey belting, you might face a harsh realization: That boosted coziness has resulted in a productivity slump.

While it’s important to let yourself relax and embrace down time with family and friends, Santa’s pending arrival shouldn’t completely hinder your hard work.

Whether it’s less love for your side hustle or a decreased dedication to the workout gains, here are my tips for maintaining motivation during the holiday season:

1. Plan like a pro.

A seemingly endless to-do list is bound to leave you feeling “blah,” so try setting daily objectives instead.

By approaching your day with a structured plan of tasks to complete, this eliminates the chance of daydreaming about the Gingerbread house you’re making later.

Along with benefitting your professional work, a solid plan can help maintain accountability for healthy lifestyle habits – such as hitting the gym.

On Sundays, I like to construct a simple workout plan for the week ahead. Creating new workouts and switching up your routine can make the process more fun, and these plan-ahead strategies will ultimately increase your productivity level.

The holidays can cause our productivity to take a little dip, but some pre-procrastination grounding can go a long way in bringing you back to course.

2. Embrace that seasonal spark of creativity.

Is your workflow getting disrupted by “Jingle Bell Rock” playing repeatedly in your head? This happens to the best of us, but keep in mind that you can also leverage the festive flair.

If you’re a blogger, use the holiday season as an opportunity to create a killer gift guide. Offer lifestyle tips that are specific to the holidays, like I’m doing in this very article.

Before you start groaning about creating new content, think about how you can repurpose old content and add a seasonal spin.

From the media side, it’s the perfect time to pitch your client (or yourself) as an expert on topics or behaviors that are particularly prevalent during the holidays.

Start turning your distractions into tactics, and don’t forget to have fun with it.

3. Allocate appropriately.

Between office parties and family get-togethers, there’s a good chance that your social calendar is filling up fast.

Particularly for my fellow side hustlers, those ugly Christmas sweater parties and holiday bar crawls might be a bad influence on your previously productive weekends.

Rather than begrudgingly declining events and giving your laptop the middle finger, start doing some serious reassessing.

Identify your social commitments in advance, and allocate tasks based on your availability.

Move your deadlines up when necessary, and tackle tasks in advance to make up for upcoming no-work zone activities.

By re-shifting your priorities, you can socialize guilt-free – and won’t have a pile of work waiting for you when you return.

4. Take your PTO seriously.

Millennials are taking fewer vacations, which can be attributed to the no-days-off mentality that’s been instilled in us.

My ability to fully “unplug” still needs some improvement, but I hope to master it when I head to Jamaica in early January.

Whether it’s a 2-week break or just a Friday off, start treating it like the vacation it’s meant to be.

Let yourself lounge, and remember what it’s like to just “be” without constant reminders and looming anxiety over what’s next.

Along with helping you return to work re-energized, this hiatus might even make you come back excited.    

With a clear mind and positive mindset, some time off can serve as a friendly reminder that work is just a part of your life and doesn’t define you.

So treat your upcoming holiday vacation as a reward for your hard work throughout the year, and let it fuel your focus until you’ve made it.