The holidays can be a wonderfully unbalanced time of year.  According to Pew Research Center 90% of Americans celebrate Christmas, with about the same celebrating Thanksgiving.  Don’t forget New Years too.   If you’re not in that group you can still learn from what I’m about to say, as it applies to any gatherings of a seasonal nature.

The aforementioned holidays all happen in essentially the same month-ish span of time.  That’s some pretty concentrated celebration, and it comes at a time when a good portion of the country also experiences winter.  These are pretty intense distractions and influences on how you manage your time, energy and resources.

The Automation of Balance

As I said in The Automation of Balance, you are constantly seeking equilibrium.  This equilibrium takes the form of many many adjustments to how you work, how you play, where you go, what you spend your time on.  When new influences are introduced to you or existing ones flex and change, you do as well to compensate.  And as I said in my posts on Balance and Transition, you find ways to adjust.  Sometimes you adjust well, sometimes you don’t.  And sometimes the influences go away and you continue to adjust to them – adjusting to something that doesn’t exist anymore.

Holidays – very large temporary annual forces exerted on your balance

With regards to the holidays, you probably experience very large temporary changes that you have to deal with.  The holidays bring a marked increase in socialization, changes to diet and resources.  You probably never thought about that.  Perhaps you think about eating and all the rich food and the weight you gain, or fight not to gain during the holidays.  But there’s much more than that.  So let’s create an awareness you can use.  Remember, it’s always about a tangible take-away.

What to expect

Here are the top things to be aware of when going through the holidays.  As always, I’m breaking it down between Time, Energy and Resources.

Time

The holidays really can mess with your schedule.  You may have to deal with days off – in some cases those days off come at an inopportune time for you.  If that’s the case you have to deal with a gap in your schedule that messes with your ability to reach other clients or prospects.  Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving and even Black Friday are probably not the best days to reach a client.  You may deal with a surplus of time, in which case it may disrupt your flow on what you do with it.  Seeing family or friends that are out of state or in another city can be a commitment of time in a schedule that is usually chopped up into small slices.  If you have kids then you may have to attend a number of Christmas plays or ‘Winter Break Festivals.’  How much extra time does it take to write the Christmas cards, or decorate the house, or purchase more decorations?

Maybe you’re one of the kind individuals that participates in the feed the hungry, and that’s an investment of time, but can recharge your emotional gas tank a bit.  Remember things are a give and take.

Energy

The holidays can be a great draw on your energy.  You are a rare individual if you solely gain energy from the holidays.  I’m not saying that it can’t be a wonderful time to recharge with family and friends but the reality is that you are going t...