05 Dec How to Avoid Waking up with a Painful (Business) Hangover in the New Year

Six tips to keep you and your business healthy through the silly season

Written by Daniela Cavalletti

7 min read

I grew up in Germany, where Christmas season was marked by piles of snow, the delicious smell of Glühwein, nibbling gingerbread hearts, and very short dark days. We’d arrive back to dinner after a walk through the local Weihnachtsmarkt to get cosy in the warmth of home. Surrounded by the crisp smells of a real Christmas tree and the soft glow of candles, it was all very gentle.

Culture Shock: Christmas Downunder

My first Australian Christmas was a case of pure culture shock. We had a ‘barbie’ in the sweltering sun (all slip-slop-slapped up with sun-protection, of course), occasionally slipped a shrimp on the barbie, and picked our drinks from the ‘esky’ to cool down. Plus all this happened at a beach heaving with ‘swimmers’-clad people. It all was mightily busy and strange, if fun.

Fast forward 22 years, and I still cannot reconcile Christmas in Australia  with that of my European roots (though my home in Tasmania looks and feels a tad more European than Sydney, where I lived for many years after I arrived).

It’s a nice season to socialise, but not really Christmassy to me (sorry, Australia!). It’s a time when I do miss ‘home’ a lot.

Is Christmas going to break you (and your bank)?

And then there’s the business side: from early December to controversial Australia Day (Day of Mourning/Invasion Day) on 26 January, Australia turns into a strange place before effectively shutting down for weeks. It confuses the hell out of my European and American friends, clients and colleagues; I can tell you!

City roads are deserted, people dress casually and ‘Christmassy’ at work, Christmas-party hangovers are amassed – and everyone generally takes life a lot less seriously. The weeks leading up to Christmas are often a mad-dash of tying up loose ends at work, while juggling an endless stream of end-of-year plans and Christmas dos.

With all those many and often exhausting shenanigans going on, February, when it comes, can feel like quite a bad hangover.

And in more ways than one.

How to keep yourself + your business healthy

With year-end exhaustion and excitement at the prospect of time-off, the last weeks before Christmas often flash past in a blur.

Productivity is either a frantic scramble or slowly grounds to a halt. Then come Hanukkah and Christmas, soon New Year is here, … and before you know it, it’s all over and the end of January.

For two long months many of us will have mostly ignored our marketing and networking activities – yes, for two solid months. Online activities might have been scheduled ahead with the well-organised having written and scheduled blogs and social media posts in advance to cover the holiday season. But with everything else going on, our networking, sales and marketing will most likely have suffered.

And now we find it’s suddenly February, our cash-reserves may have dwindled and we need to get some new customers. Quick smart.

It can be a tricky time.

Since starting my business in 2009, I’ve tried a few new things every year to make the most of the December / January break – for me, and for my business.

Perhaps some of them will also help make your February feel much better than it might have in previous years.

#1. Say no to parties

It’s so tempting to say ‘yes’ to every invitation this time of year, but I urge you to choose wisely. All the free fun, food and frolics might sound like too good an opportunities to refuse; a chance to let down your hair a bit. After all, you worked hard – now it’s time to play hard!

But remember last year? After the nth Christmas-do you were over the idea of attending your family and friends’ celebration before the actual festive days arrived. Come New Year’s Day and having overindulged, you vowed to never drink again, or even eat for the next few weeks.

I’ve been aiming to go to a maximum of three business-related Christmas / New Year events each year, and it’s been a great relief and experience. I go to a couple of key client and creative partner dos. That’s it. That way I’ve enjoyed each event; because I actually wanted to be there, and I’m present. At first it was tough to say ‘no’: for fear of missing out or perhaps upsetting the person inviting me. But in most cases, let’s be honest, nobody will remember who was at which do exactly come the next time you see them. And some gladly forget their antics from those events anyway.

#2. Look after yourself

There’s nothing wrong with taking time off and enjoying yourself. Quite the opposite: without solid breaks throughout the year (including the odd doona day) we can become disengaged, unhappy, sick, and risk burnout. As people and as business owners, our health is our most valuable asset (yes, even more so than time).

Don’t wait till the end of a year to do what makes you happy and soothes you during difficult times. Don’t let tension build up. Pay attention to what smoothens frayed nerves and calms you; then do more of it. Simple things like walking through a leafy local park, doing some yin yoga stretching my muscles, hanging up the laundry, pumping some iron, or tiding up my office … they all help me get my cool and focus back; get calm. For me resetting is done by being playful, physically active, experiencing wonder, or creating order and beauty.

But some issues are bigger than a little blimp on the zen radar. What then?

A few years back, I had a stressful move from my home of eight years, just to being hit by a car days after moving. That sucked. While I was lucky to escape without broken bones or life-changing injuries, recovery was a struggle. “That’s not fair!” echoed a lot in my head, as I raged in face of the slow progress of healing – and the things I missed out on along the way.

I came across the concept and tried (and try) practice radical acceptance and it was extremely helpful. I started feeling ok with what’s happened (most days) and even started enjoying the slower pace and changes circumstances had forced me into. Who knew! Check it out for yourself; it’s simple yet powerful.

#3. Respectful communications

Come early December, businesses start sending out their Season’s Greetings emails. I’ve already had about ten messages. Many I only glance over because they are so generic, and others really stick with me ­– for either good or bad reasons.

Based on my own reactions to these mail-outs, I’ve made a few rules for myself over the years. By applying these rules, I want to ensure I’m not only respectful towards my clients, but also look after my business, staff and suppliers.

1. If you send printed cards, don’t just sign them with your name. Send less of them if it’s a time issue (and send an electronic mailout for the rest). Then take the time to write a personalised message; something that has meaning.
2. Be grateful, and say thank you for the trust you received during the year.
3. Respect the different religious and cultural backgrounds of your readers, and be sensitive to them in personalised messages.
4. Remember the recipient when sending gifts. Your vegan client will not love the leather wallet.
5. Sales pitches do not belong in greeting cards.
6. Give your clients ample time to get in touch with anything the might need to ask you before you close your office, eliminating stress for them (and a mad late scramble for you).
7. Set boundaries, too. Clearly communicate the time you are not available (don’t forget to set up a clear, friendly and helpful out of office message).
8. Be personable, and spread a little bit of joy if you can – a smile will make everyone’s day.

#4. Do your best work; shout about it

You’re unlikely to be able to or want to take a full two months of December/January off (if you do, hats-off to you for doing so – look after yourself and enjoy!).

Many businesses still operate during the Australian summer holidays, if maybe only on a skeleton staff. But business doesn’t suddenly completely cease during this time. So there is in fact no reason to slow down your own marketing and sales activities; especially once January comes around and people feel refreshed.

January often has been one of the best months for my business, because my clients and referral partners have more time to meet and chat, … and I’m one of the few people to actually call. And with people taking things slow in January they have more time and interest to read my blogs, posts and emails.

So make sure you don’t fill December and January with some marketing leftovers, but send out your top stuff. Marketing collateral, posts messages that give your readers something to think about.

Why not call a couple of your prospects or clients every week – and invite them to catch up over lunch or a coffee?

#5. Plan, create for the New Year

During the long Australian summer holidays, the email flood magically slows and the daily phone calls get fewer as many people do take off big chunks of time. The extra hours I gain per week, and the more solid, uninterrupted time I have for creative work and thinking are ideal to plan ahead.

For me, I love to work on writing juicy pieces of content marketing, especially some with a more personal angle, because they do take more time to gestate and complete. They tend to be the rawest, most authentic and deep content I produce.

And, I believe, that’s why those pieces are the most liked and commented on: because they are uniquely my experience and go beyond what can be found elsewhere.

We all can write solid ‘5 Top Tips’ articles in our profession. And those can be full of very useful, important information. But using the slower times to come up with topics you are passionate, knowledgeable – and can tell a personal story – about will take your engagement with your readers and customers to another level.

I also like to look at our processes, and see how we can tweak them to be better. During the busy days of the year we tend to just do things like we always do them. Especially when there is a team involved, changing processes often seems too hard at the time. The slower days around the holiday season are an ideal time to take an objective eye to how I do things – and make changes for the better.

For you it might be another area, and different years will present us with different opportunities, but this time is a great opportunity to grab whatever planning you can and need to do by the horns.

#6. Mix business with pleasure

Now, I’ve talked about saying ‘no’ to parties and invitations, so why am I now going on about ‘mixing business with pleasure’; aren’t I contradicting myself?

Well, not quite; let me explain.

There are referral partners, team members and clients – and even competitors ­– that I love doing business with and am also very fond of as people.

We’ve become friends.

So one thing I’ve started to do over the past few years, is to ‘mix business with pleasure’. We get together during the silly season in a more relaxed setting, and chat about how we can support each other in the coming year. Those get-togethers have created a deep trust and strengthened some very important relationships for me.

I actually have started to suggest these more relaxed meetings all year ’round. They are good for our physical and mental health, and businesses. Win, win, win. 

I’ve tried these ideas; see what you can add:

• Go and grab a coffee or brunch at a cafe by the beach, … in your board shorts. 
• Hike your favourite trail together.
• Kids play sports together? Meet at a match and chat.
• Organise a day at the ‘bowlo’ (or lawn bowls for non-Aussies) with a bunch of your connections. Plenty of relaxed time to during a lazy day watching or playing the game.
• Have a picnic lunch in the park.

All these activities (and I’m sure you can think of many more) allow us to be more authentic without the obvious business angle and attire. They are building trust.

And there’s no reason you can’t build trust while having fun at the same time.

Frohes Neues Jahr (and happy February)!

Still missing cold German Christmases, I feel I made the most of our wonderfully long and hot silly season here.

I’ve found a happy equilibrium for me and my business. I try to make the most of the Australian six to eight week ‘break’, by mixing fun with foresight.

That way, come February, I won’t wake up with a terrible hangover of missed opportunities and empty coffers. Instead, with a bit of planning and luck, I’ll already be having a rather happy New Year.

Will you join me?