How to creatively make your way through the end of year holiday minefield 😭🥳🎁 (2022)
The holidays are here.
Yay!
….Yay?
Did you jump for joy or did you cringe a little inside?
The end of the year is a veritable stress-educing minefield.
Candy canes, office parties, deadlines, deadlines, more parties, and fights with the ones you love most.
The holidays bring moments of joy you’ll treasure forever. They also bring anxiety, stress, and burnout.
We can fall victim to going overboard, running ourselves ragged. So how do we fend off possible burnout and enjoy the festivities?
We’re creatives. And as creatives, we have the upper hand. We can use our creativity superpowers to make the season a little less stressful.
Here are some go-to solutions that have worked for me over the years.
1. Don’t say “Yes” to everything.
I know. I know.
You love your friends and family.
You want to do whatever you can to help make their experiences magical.
But that doesn’t mean you need to go to every party, get-together, and shindig if it’s going to drive you bonkers.
It’s okay to say “No” to the things you feel may stretch you too thin.
You don’t need to go to the fifth family party in two weeks to ensure everyone knows you’re still alive.
Staying in control of what you say “Yes” to and what you say “No” to will help clear the chaos. Let it float right by as you wave to it with a smile.
2. Make things for people
You’re a creative person.
Whether it’s writing, or drawing, or building, or cooking, I bet there’s something you could do to make someone’s day brighter.
I’ve found that the people in my life appreciate a thoughtfully made gift.
And besides, it's better than the random knick-knack I picked up last minute off a random shelf at Target for sure. (Also, I never do that 😉)
3. Share knowledge
If you’d instead choose not to make gifts yourself, I’ve found the next best gift to share is the gift of a good book.
Of course, the book has to fit the person, but it’s one of the simplest ways to say either “I get you” or “I think you might like this.”
Often, I’ll read a bunch of books throughout the year and then buy the best one for each person in my life.
The majority of books I consume relate to personal development. So I try to match something that might help the recipient with a problem in their life.
Again, it’s about helping the ones you love thrive. Other times, I’ll gift a fun book that expands their ideas on a favorite hobby.
4. Recharge
Don’t over-extend yourself with events and gift obligations.
Instead, give yourself the gift of adequate space to relax.
Every year for the past six or seven, I’ve taken off at least two weeks at the end of the year to do whatever.
People ask me, “Hey, Mike, going on vacation? Somewhere warm?” I reply, “Nope. Just having a nice stay-cation.”
I catch up on reading and video games, spend time with my wife, and just live life as stress-free as possible.
I don’t always need immediate time off, but I find that the two-week period gives me a chance to reset. A kind of baseline version of myself reemerges. I begin to reflect on my past year and the future to come.
That leads me to the last item on my list.
5. Review the year
If you have some downtime to yourself, take advantage of it.
Say you're hanging out on an off day watching TV after the gifts have been unwrapped and everyone is at peace.
Take a few minutes and jot down what went well this year, what didn’t go so well, and what you’d like to do over the next 12 months.
Start simple and consider the major categories of your life.
Many people believe the following to be amongst the most important in theirs, but feel free to adjust what works best for you:
Health
Work
Creativity/Play
Family/Friends
Finances
Spirituality
You’ll likely discover some exciting takeaways to help shape your decisions into the new year.
Navigate the Minefield
The end of the year can be extra stressful for creatives.
We’ve all been there. But take a moment to think about how you can be more deliberate with your time, what you say "Yes/No" to, and give yourself space to relax. This could be one of the best holiday seasons of your life.
You don’t need to break yourself from the expectations of others. Instead, do your best to be your best for you, and the people in your life will thrive alongside you.
Good luck and Happy Holidays to you and yours.
—
P.S. // As the year winds down, we’ll talk more in the coming weeks about reflection and goal setting.
And don’t worry, I’ll bring the pie. 🥧
TL; DR
The end of the year is a stress minefield
Don’t say “Yes” to everything
Make things for people
Share knowledge
Recharge
Review the year
Recent Finds
💡 Ideas from the creative wilderness to help you build a better life.
Inspiration
Tim Ferriss — My Favorite Failure (Video) | Tim Ferriss is one of the most famous, best-selling authors in the Personal Development space. But even he has “bad” days. I love this story about his favorite failure because it shows how failure itself can be repurposed to great success. Don’t take failure for granted. Acknowledge it and move forward. As Tim says, “Thanks for that failure universe!” You don’t know where it might lead you—it could be better than you ever imagined.
Mindset
Sun Yi — A Shortcut to Finding Your Genius (Instagram) | This post by Sun Yi highlights a powerful way to reframe how we perceive ourselves. As humans, we have inherent personality traits that bubble up to the surface. Sometimes we see them as the things holding us back. But how can we leverage our personalities to help us push forward in our own way?
Design
James Barnard — How to use spacing to radically improve your designs (Video) | I love learning about new design techniques. I’m especially a sucker for presentation and graphic layout tips. This technique taught by graphic designer James Barnard called “Bottom Weighting” is something I plan to use a lot in my own presentation work moving forward. A must watch for creative professionals.
A Quote I'm Pondering
💬 Motivation for the days ahead of you.
“Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs….”
— John McClaine
(Played by Bruce Willis in the Definitive Christmas Classic, “Die Hard”)
Image: Die Hard via Entertainment Weekly
Thank you for reading! I’m grateful you’re part of this community and that you’ve taken time out of your busy schedule to read this week’s newsletter. 🙏
That's all for now.
Stay creative, my friends—and have a great week!
