Clear Your To-Do List: Rest and Recharge Over the Holidays

You’re heading into the holidays with a mile-long to-do list, telling yourself you’ll “just check emails” or finish a few projects from the couch. But that’s not rest—it’s relocation of your office. No wonder you never feel recharged.

In this episode of Ditch the Chaos, we’re breaking down how to clear your to-do list before vacation so you can actually unplug, recharge, and enjoy your time away—whether it’s the holiday season or your next summer getaway.

You’ll learn:

• Why prepping promotions and content early eliminates last-minute stress
• How to set client and team expectations before you take time off
• The mistake entrepreneurs make in January (and how to avoid it)
• A simple system to assess tasks, open loops, and unfinished projects
• How to create digital boundaries that protect your rest time

These steps come straight from what I teach inside Chaos Detox—because productivity should feel like peace, not pressure. With a little planning and clear boundaries, you can stop working from the couch and start actually resting.

Want to read the original blog version of this episode?

CLICK HERE → 5 Steps To Clear Your To-Do List So You Can Rest and Recharge

Transcript

# (23) Clear Your To-Do List: Rest and Recharge Over the Holidays

[00:00:00] Wouldn't it be nice to really unplug instead of quote unquote working from the couch and pretending that it's time off? Let's talk about how to clear your to-do list so you can truly rest and recharge.

[00:00:13] Welcome to Ditch the Chaos, A snackable podcast for busy women who are done with burnout, rigid routines and productivity guilt. You'll get clear, actionable strategies to reclaim your time and energy without planners pressure or one size fits all systems.

[00:00:29] I'm Cara Chace, entrepreneurs since 2015. Mom of two wife to one, and I am unapologetically caffeinated. Let's break this down.

[00:00:40] If every December or every vacation you end up scrambling to finish client work, rushing to write content, and promising yourself, you'll just check emails real quick. You're not really resting. You're just relocating your office to the couch and pretending that being in your PJ's means you're off. [00:01:00] It doesn't have to be this way.

[00:01:02] With some foresight and planning, you can clear your task list before you step away, so you can actually unplug whether that's Christmas week or your next summer vacation. These five steps will change how you approach time off.

[00:01:17] Step one, prepare for holiday promotions early. If you're running a holiday promotion, don't wait until November.

[00:01:26] By then, it's really too late. Ideally, you're planning Black Friday through Christmas, offers back in July, or at least three months before any big promotion. That's because your audience needs to be warmed up. Lead magnets, nurture emails and social posts all take time to build momentum and brand awareness.

[00:01:47] Scheduling tools like Tailwind Publisher or Meta Business Suite make it super easy to plan and schedule your social media posts so your content runs on autopilot while you sip, eggnog, or take a nap. [00:02:00] But if you don't know what you're doing ahead of time, you won't have any structure to plan or to schedule, and you'll fall back into the what do I post today? Stress.

[00:02:10] And if you're not running a holiday sale. Still block time to prep and schedule your regular organic content before you go on vacation. That way social media posts won't be hanging out in your mental load list while you're trying to relax. Step two, prepare your clients and your team. If you provide services or manage a team, set expectations early.

[00:02:34] Decide how much time you're taking off and communicate it clearly. In my business, we shut down completely for the last two weeks of the year. Clients know by September what the holiday deliverables and my office hours will be. That way there are no surprises, no frantic emails while I am making hot chocolate with my kiddos.

[00:02:54] Compressed timelines or adjusted schedules. Keep everyone on track and your clients will thank you for [00:03:00] being proactive instead of reactive.

[00:03:03] Step three, think beyond the holidays. This is a trap I've fallen into planning to launch something in mid-January without doing the prep work before December vacation. The result is that I spent the holidays glued to my laptop, creating marketing assets I should have had done weeks earlier, two years in a row I did this. So don't do that.

[00:03:27] Have your January content prepped and scheduled before you log off in December. It gives you breathing room to reenter work mode without scrambling.

[00:03:36] The same rule applies before any vacation. Plan a buffer for your return so you're not slammed on day one. This kind of breathing room is what I help you create inside Chaos Detox. We think long-term and plan for flexibility and buffer room, and I can show you how you can find out more about the course in the show notes.

[00:03:57] Step four. Assess your [00:04:00] projects and tasks before you step away. Just like I plan my week on Friday so I can fully relax on the weekends. I recommend you do the same before vacation. Look at your projects, your to-do list, all those open loops, decide what truly needs to be finished, what can be delegated and what can just be deleted, and for the to-dos that really do need to get done after the holidays.

[00:04:24] Schedule them into your calendar for when you get back. That way your brain knows that it's handled and there's room for it, and you can stop mentally checking on them while you're supposed to be resting. Step five, create digital boundaries. This is the one most of us resist.

[00:04:42] But it's non-negotiable for a little piece and a true reset. If you want to unplug, you have to protect your space. Set an out of office email that spells out when you'll be back and who to contact if something's urgent. Delete or hide your social media apps from your [00:05:00] phone, and for the love of your sanity, turn off notifications.

[00:05:05] I learned this lesson the hard way when a client who made up about 70% of my income at the time. Message me on Facebook during my first vacation in four years. That was the wake up call I needed to draw strong boundaries. Don't wait for your breaking point to create those rules. When you remove the constant digital pings, you give yourself the chance to be present with your family, your friends, or just yourself.

[00:05:34] So here's your reset and reclaim action step for the week. Before the holidays, your next vacation or even a really long weekend, make a short list of open loops and see what needs to get scheduled. Decide what gets finished, what gets delegated, and what gets bumped for. After you return, put it all in your calendar, then shut it down.

[00:05:55] That's how you train your brain to let go. Okay, let's wrap this [00:06:00] up to actually rest and recharge. You have to plan ahead. That means preparing promotions and clients early, thinking beyond the holiday itself, assessing your to-dos before you leave. And most importantly, setting digital boundaries. This isn't just about holiday stress, productivity tips.

[00:06:20] It's about reclaiming your time off year round.

[00:06:24] Take these steps now so you can stop working from the couch and start enjoying your time away, whether it's Christmas vacation or a summer getaway. Thanks for tuning in. If this episode helped you hit follow and share it with another woman who needs to hear it. If you need help with how to plan for taking time off, visit Cara Chace.com/coaching for one-to-one help.

[00:06:46] Until next time, I'm Cara Chace reminding you to keep questioning the rules and making your own.