Imperfect Marketing
Imperfect Marketing
263: Holiday Special: Balancing Work and Festivities with Host Kendra Corman
Struggling to balance work and holiday festivities?
š In this special episode of Imperfect Marketing, I share strategies to stay productive at work while still enjoying the holiday season.
From revisiting Blaine Oelkers' "30-Minute Hour" concept to prioritizing tasks, setting boundaries, and managing meetings, you'll learn how to make the most of this busy time.
Highlights from today's episode include:
- Revisiting Blaine Oelkersā ā30-Minute Hourā strategy for maximizing productivity.
- How to prioritize tasks and focus on the most impactful work.
- The power of setting and communicating clear work hours.
- Reducing time spent in meetings for more focused productivity.
- Embracing Parkinsonās Law to get more done in less time.
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 60 with Blaine Oelkers: The 30-Minute Hour: https://kendracorman.com/episode-60-the-30-minute-hour-with-blaine-oelkers-2/
Full Focus Planner
Connect with me on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendracorman/
Donāt forget to like, subscribe, and share your own productivity tips for the holiday season in the comments below! Wishing you a joyful and productive holiday season! š
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Welcome back to Imperfect Marketing. I'm your host, kendra Corman, and today is a special holiday episode for you. As we dive into that festive season, many of us find ourselves juggling work commitments with holiday preparations and celebrations. It's a time of year that can feel both exciting and still yet overwhelming right Because we're so busy. So in today's episode, we're going to be exploring strategies for balancing work, festivities and your personal life during this busy time. We're going to go ahead and revisit some valuable insights from a past test, discuss prioritization techniques and share some personal strategies that I've found effective. By the end of this episode, you're going to have some tips that are going to help you stay productive at work while still enjoying the holiday season. So grab a cup of hot cocoa and marshmallows and let's get started. So let's kick things off by revisiting a concept we explored way, way, way, way way back in episode 60, which aired January 1st 2023.
Speaker 1:In that episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Blaine Elkers, who introduced us to the idea of the 30 minute hour. Now you might be wondering if you haven't listened to that episode, kendra. How can this possibly relate to balancing work and holiday festivities, and how on earth do you get an hour in 30 minutes. Well, let me tell you, it's more relevant than you might think. His 30-minute hour concept is all about maximizing productivity by adopting what he calls a day-before-vacation mentality. So think about it how productive are you the day before you leave vacation? Suddenly, tasks that normally take an hour get done in 30 minutes. You're focused, you're efficient and determined to clear your plate before you go right.
Speaker 1:Blaine breaks this down into three key components, which he calls PDF plan, delegate, focus. First plan just like you meticulously plan your day before vacation, try planning your work days around the holiday season with the same level of detail. Know exactly what needs to get done and when you're going to do it. Next, delegate Look at your to-do list and ask yourself does this need to really be done by me? If not, delegate it. Don't have team members. Try Upwork, because this is going to apply both at work and in your holiday preparations. Maybe your mom can help you with it, maybe a colleague can handle that report. Perhaps your kids can take charge of decorating the house right. Finally, focus this is where the magic happens when you sit down to work and you give it your full attention. No multitasking, no distractions, just like you wouldn't be scrolling social media the day before vacation at 10 o'clock in the morning, right? Try to bring some of that same level of focus to your work this holiday season.
Speaker 1:The last essential piece of Blaine's advice is to release your inner perfectionist, and that's why this show is called Imperfect Marketing. Done is better than perfect. Progress is better than perfection. This is especially important during the holidays, when time's at a premium. By adopting this 30 minute hour mindset, you can potentially get your work done in half the time, leaving more room for holiday festivities and relaxation. It's not about working more hours or longer hours, right, it's about working smarter and more efficiently.
Speaker 1:So now that we've talked a little bit about that 30 minute hour that Blaine shared with us, let's dive into the importance of prioritizing tasks and setting clear work hours this holiday season. One tool that is super important to me and I've been using for I don't know five, six years, maybe now um is the full focus planner. Each week, I use it to set three main tasks or goals, and this is incredibly helpful in focusing on what truly needs to get done, especially like busy times during the holidays. By limiting myself to just three main tasks a week, I'm forced to really think about what's most important. It's not about doing everything. It's about doing the right things. So I want you to ask yourself what tasks, if completed, would make the biggest impact on my work or business. Those are the ones you get done.
Speaker 1:When it comes to setting work hours during the holidays, be intentional. It's really easy to let work expand to fill all available time, and it will fill all available time you give it. That's a surefire way to miss out on the joy of this season. So instead, I want you to decide on your work hours in advance. Be realistic. You might need to adjust your usual schedule to accommodate some holiday activities. Communicate these hours clearly to clients and family members so that they know when you're working and when you're not, and then, when you're working, really work, apply that 30-minute focused hour that we talked about earlier. And when you're not working, truly disconnect. Enjoy time with your family and friends without consistently checking your email. Right, get that phone away, because it's not about the number of hours you work, but the quality of work you do in those hours.
Speaker 1:I used to think that your work, the quality of work you do in those hours. I used to think that being busy was being productive. It's not, and the quicker you can get there, the better off you're going to be this holiday season. So one of the biggest time eaters in our professional lives is meetings.
Speaker 1:During this holiday season, it's more important than ever to be strategic about how you manage your meetings. So one of the things that I've found really effective is that I move most of my networking meetings out by at least two weeks. So if you contact me today, you can have one in two weeks. But I take it a step further during the holiday. If I have a particularly busy holiday week coming up with family events and things like that, I block it off on my calendar, along with the week before and the week after. Not that I don't take meetings during those times, but it creates a visual red flag over my entire calendar that forces me to pause and think does this meeting really need to happen in this window? Can it wait until after the holidays, or can it be handled with a quick phone call? It's amazing how much more you can accomplish with fewer meetings. Right, because let's get things done. So by reducing meeting time, you're freeing up more time for focused work and, of course, enjoying the holiday season, so don't be afraid to reschedule non-essential meetings.
Speaker 1:Most people understand and, especially during this time of year, are pretty thankful for it. And remember a cleared calendar is a gift you give yourself. Okay, so you might be thinking but Kendra, won't I get less done if I'm working fewer hours and having fewer meetings? Not necessarily. In fact, you might surprise yourself by getting the same amount of work done, if not more. Yep, I said it, you might get more done.
Speaker 1:This relates to a principle known as Parkinson's Law, which says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, if you give yourself all day to complete a task, it will take you all day, but if you only give yourself an hour, you'll find a way to get it done in an hour. During the holidays, we naturally have less time available for work, but instead of seeing this as a limitation, view it as an opportunity to become more efficient. When you know you only have a few hours to work, you're likely to be more focused and less likely to procrastinate. You're going to prioritize more effectively, focusing on what truly needs to get done and not inventing new tasks, and you'll find creative solutions to get things done more quickly.
Speaker 1:The key is to be intentional about your time. Okay, be intentional about your time. Don't let work expand to fill all your available time. Set clear boundaries, stick to them and you're going to find that you can accomplish just as much in less time. I want you to remember you're not aiming to create additional projects during this busy season. Instead, focus on meeting your essential commitments efficiently. Quality over quantity is the name of the game here, just like it is in almost everything we do. So before I wrap up, let's recap the main strategies I have shared for balancing work and festivities during the holiday season.
Speaker 1:First, re-listen to episode 60. Adopt that 30-minute hour mindset Plan, delegate and focus. Two, prioritize ruthlessly. Focus on just a few key tasks each week. Three, set and communicate clear work hours, usually important. Four, be strategic about meetings Reschedule, shorten or cancel where possible. And five, trust that with focus and intention, you can maintain productivity even working fewer hours. All right. So what are some things that you can do right now? Number one block off your calendar for the busiest days of the holiday season that you know you're going to be busy. Identify your top three priorities for the week and schedule focused time to work on those priorities. Okay, and then look at your upcoming meetings and see which ones you can reschedule for after the holidays Can anything move? Or maybe the meetings stay, but the assignments get delayed, and then set specific work hours for the coming week and communicate that with your clients.
Speaker 1:The goal isn't just to get through the holiday season, but do enjoy it while still meeting your commitments and possibly even growing your business right. It's about finding that sweet spot where you can excel at work and still have time to savor festive moments with the ones that you love. Thanks so much for tuning into this holiday special episode of Imperfect Marketing. I hope you found these strategies helpful as you navigate the balance between work and festivities and work hard not to get burned out. If you have your own tips for staying productive during the holidays, I would love to hear them. Share them with me on social media or leave a comment on LinkedIn or YouTube. Okay, cause that's where I'm most active. Again, kendra Cormancom. Forward slash LinkedIn. Or YouTubecom forward slash at Kendra Corman. From everybody here at KendraCormancom and Imperfect Marketing, we wish you a joyful, peaceful and yes, productive holiday season. Until next time, keep moving forward. Progress, not perfection.
