10 tips for THRIVING during the busy season: work from home edition

I struggled with a title for this because we’re not talking about going into a busy season at work, we’re talking specifically about prepping for a busy life season where you have to take off work, but not take off work.

-Family vacation
-Event
-Holiday

Now you say Tonya, you run your own business, time freedom remember? just take the week off. That’s always an option, BUT if it’s not, or you don’t want to take the week off, these tips will help. I’m going to walk you through how I personally prep for a busy season. This allows me still enjoy my “off time” without missing a beat in my business.

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Tonya Jonson, founder of the Bossmom co, where I help small business owners find that coveted work/home life balance. We focus on social media marketing, email marketing, and branding. My goal is to help you build a life off of social media that is just as awesome as the one you portray on instagram.

We’re going to focus on short term preparation, so prepping for a 1-2 week busy life season. If your situation requires more than 2 weeks of “off time” then you’ll want to tailor these tips to your life. Most will work for you, but a few will need tweaked.

I’m going to use my real life as an example. I’ve been through dozens of “busy seasons”, and I’m about to head into another one next week. We have what’s called Day Camp at our church, it’s basically like a giant VBS, but instead of heaving the kids at night, we have them from 730am-5pm which means I’ll be away from my home from 630am-530pm M-F of that week. All of the tips below are ones I’m using myself in my current season.

First thing you want to do is make a list of everything you need to do before the season of life starts. Btw, this week's freebie contains everything you need to breeze through these steps and enter in your busy season with as little stress as possible. 

The week leading up to the season will require intense focus in order to work ahead. For us, that means the house is a little messier than normal, I’m definitely working longer hours, all the extras for homeschooling have been removed and we only kept the independent work, and my daughter is getting way more screen time than normal.

The rest of these are in no specific order, just tips.

Every season will require a different way of doing this, but this is what we’re doing for the season we’re currently entering. The Saturday (10th) before, I’m planning our meals for Sunday (11th)-Saturday (20th).

That Saturday (10th) I’ll be prepping all our lunches and dinners for Sat-Wed. Then Thurs-Fri will be crockpot meals for dinner and sandwiches for lunch and Saturday (20th) will be a fun cookout day with friends. Breakfasts will be bowls the first half of the week and overnight oats (me) and fruit/cheese stick/muffin (glori) for the second half of the week.

*Cooked meats are safe for 3-4 days in the fridge, so that’s why the first half of the week and second half look so much different. During our normal life I prep meals on Monday and Thursday mornings, but during this upcoming season I don’t have time to prep more than once, so we’re opting for more convenient meals the second half.

Having a plan will prevent eating junk food the entire week. The last thing you want during a busy season is to not feel your best. Having said that, it’s also a very fun season for Glori, so lunches will be provided for her as well as fun snacks and sweet treats. I’m choosing to bring my own food, but we’ve decided to let her enjoy “camp food” with all the other kids.

Communicate with Family

Let them know what to expect. I had this conversation with my husband last week. I told him my goal this week was to work as much as possible and basically keep my head above water. Clean laundry, a clean kitchen, and hot meals are a priority, but everything else is on the back burner house wise.

During "Day Camp" week my goal is to focus on my students and keep a healthy sleep schedule... I have severe PCOS and am having a pretty bad flare up as I'm writing this, so sleep is a non negotiable right now. As far as the house, same as last week - clean laundry, a clean kitchen, and hot meals are a priority, but everything else is on the back burner.

The Saturday after day camp we’ve planned a fun pool day with friends. It will be full of games, good food, music, and swimming.

Then the following Monday and Tuesday will be spent deep cleaning the house, prepping school, and getting back into our normal rhythm.

Communicate with Clients/Audience

I send an email and repost the same thing as a social media post a few days before our busy season starts just letting my clients know what they can expect from me. As long as I'm transparent with what I'm doing, no one will get mad that I'm less accessible than normal. 

For me, I’m prepping my content for Day Camp week and the week after because I don’t want to come home after a long week and have to scramble to make content. I will be writing my blogs, filming, editing, and uploading my videos, writing out my emails and social media posts, and making all my graphics. I literally do everything I can during my prep week.  Click here for a complete tutorial on how to prep content as well as a free content scheduler you can download.

Schedule everything you can. Your goal is to have as much on autopilot as possible. Schedule your emails, social media posts, and blogs.

What you can’t schedule, organize in a way that it will only take you a minute to throw up a post or hit send on an email. Check out the corresponding video to see how I organize my content in a way that I can still show up consistently without taking any time away from the fun I’m having with my students.

You have a plan in place, so remember it’s ok to say “no”. I had to practice this this week. I planned my prep week, communicated to my husband and daughter, and then I was asked to help in an outreach opportunity the Saturday before Day Camp starts. I didn’t have to think about it, I immediately said "no" because I already knew what I needed to do in order to not only survive the busy season, but to thrive through it.

Don’t schedule an intense day right after you get done with your busy season. Ease back into your routine. If you’re coming back from a trip, take a day to unpack, meal plan, grocery shop, etc… anything to make it easy to get back to your normal routine. If your season is less than fun, schedule a fun day when you get back like the cookout/pool party we’re doing.

No matter how busy things get, it's always a good idea to keep your devotions and journaling a priority. I've included a free journaling starter kit in this week's freebie, and you can watch the "how to journal" tutorial here. 

Busy seasons are inevitable, and a small amount of stress is going to naturally come with that. What we're focusing on right now is simply minimizing that stress by controlling what we can. Use this week's freebie pack to help your organize the chaos. 

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