I have had enough. How do I get to Christmas?

Dear Aunty B,

It is nearly Christmas and I am absolutely exhausted. I can hardly drag myself to work. I feel like I have no enthusiasm for anything – even my two week Christmas holiday.

I just got an invitation to a Christmas party and all I felt was rage. I am not sure why I feel like this because the year has been a big success and we are planning for an even better year next year.

I am wondering if my enthusiasm for the business is waning and how to get my enthusiasm back. I always enjoy Christmas once I get there and this year I want to fast-forward sometime into the future where work, parties and Christmas trees are done and dusted.

Grumpy and over it,
Victoria

Dear Grumpy,

Stop catastrophising. There’s nothing wrong with you. And there is nothing wrong with your business. Your brain, my friend, is fried. There is a real problem with driven people like yourself who won’t pause for breath.

What you are doing is running straight from one hard year into planning for the next. You can’t do it effectively because you haven’t given your brain a rest. Instead of thinking about next year, you are wondering about quitting your business. How effective is that?

Here is what you must do. Take a long weekend. A Friday, Monday and Tuesday. You will spend the first two days furiously thinking about work. Then you will relax. You will come back and do some basic work but you will arrive late or leave early.

You must signal to your brain that you are winding down a little for your holiday. Why? Because a week into your holiday you will feel very well rested. A week and a half in and you will start thinking about your strategy. Two weeks in, you will be researching and strategising on the computer. How do I know this? Because I asked SmartCompany editor James Thomson what people are reading on our site in January – it’s all strategy stuff.

So your aim for the next few weeks is to rest your brain. You will be surprised at how effective that is and how rejuvenated you will feel!

Good luck,
Your Aunty B

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