TIWIKE

This week has been a nice mix of teaching for my main client, networking and prepping for the holidays. 

I finished up the shopping completely (spending more than I should), bought and sent the holiday greeting cards, including some nice ones that I created on high quality paper for close family and clients using my photographs. Got to the local post office and mailed most of what I needed to without waiting in line. I got started on the wrapping, and even got most of that done. I even did a little decorating, though I am not “into” Christmas as much as some. At the end of the week before Christmas, I feel like I am most of the way there. This will make the next few days a lot easier.

TIWIKE: If you participate in the year-end traditional holidays, it can be a time of terrific stress if you’re laid-off or your business is slow. You probably have less money available to pay more bills. You may be superheating your credit cards to make Christmas merry, knowing you will have to live with the real Holiday Hangover when the bills arrive in January. These things all add to the already elevated stress that the holidays can bring.

One advantage to being unemployed or a soloist is that you can really manage your activity to get ahead of the pack in your holiday prep by getting your errands done while the pack is in the office. That allows you to really efficient with your time, to feel like you have it all under control at a time when some other things feel out of control. That’s an advantage to you at a time when you may feel at a disadvantage in many areas of your life.

Before you dash off to  get everything done and leave your revenue search behind, remember that by being proactive you’ve created free time to work on research, networking and correspondence. More later on that…

Resources:

Dealing with Holiday stress: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030

Holiday Strategies for job seekers<http://www.risesmart.com/risesmart/blog/six-holiday-strategies-for-the-unemployed-make-merry-and-maximize-your-job-hunt-too/>