You know that feeling when you come back to your desk in January and everything is a disaster? Your desktop looks like a digital garage sale, your office chair is still wearing yesterday’s sweater, and your brain feels like it’s running 42 tabs at once?

Yeah… we’re not doing that this year.

In this episode, I’m sharing the super simple, totally doable tasks I’m doing in the next two weeks—while cozied up in my pjs —to close out 2025 in a way that feels calm, grounded, and actually restorative. No “new year, new hustle” energy required. Just a cleaner home base, a quieter mind, and a business you can step back into without the chaos hangover.

This is your permission slip to put the laptop away, clean the slate, and give your future self a January that feels good.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. The 4 things I always do to wrap up my business before the holidays
2. Why I deep clean everything (yes, including the dreaded office drawer) before taking time off
3. How I’m approaching 2026 as a “mental gap year”
4. My end-of-year digital detox ritual
5. What I’m doing during my time off to reconnect with creativity
6. The cozy winter habits keeping me sane in an extremely dark, extremely windy Long Island winter

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

RESOURCES:

1. Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
2. Get Sam's book "When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy"
3. Listen Episode 267: Before You Plan 2026, do THIS first
4. Listen to Episode 268: How to Create Your Ideal Business Year (Without Burnout-y Goals)
5. Grab the Ultimate Bundle® and use code OYTWRITEOFF to save 20% off through December 18th.
6. Read Sam's Substack Taking a Gap Year as an Entrepreneur: My Year of Letting Go in 2026
7. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out
8. Click here to watch the free workshop so you can get legally protected right now!

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
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4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

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