Getting through Q4 feels like a test of physical and mental endurance.

Anyone else?

Starting your own business has so many benefits.

• more control over your schedule
• no salary cap to your potential earnings
• more control over the people you work with

But, as you know, it comes with some downsides.

Burnout is at the top of the list and doesn’t get enough attention.

Despite what the hustle culture will tell you, it’s not a badge of honour.

Yes, you might have to work evenings and weekends. But don’t dilute yourself into thinking this is sustainable. For me, it starts in October every year.

The first domino to fall is the weather.

In my part of Canada, we seem to get the first big snowfall just before Halloween.

When our kids were younger, we would joke that everyone was dressed up as a kid in a snowsuit.

That also means the days start getting shorter. It’s always dark when I start work, but now it starts getting dark before I’m done, too.

Same hours, but it sure feels different.

Next, I start planning for the coming year with my clients.

This means analyzing the current year.

• Predicting how the year will end.
• Going back through prior years.
• And then trying to come up with a forecast and budget that accurately represents the future.

This is a time-consuming project. And it’s in addition to the regular work that happens year-round. So now the long weekdays turn into longer ones. And working through the weekend.

And then there’s the holidays.

So, October brings the short days.

November brings the extra work.

And December completes the trilogy with the chaos of the holidays.

With the few hours left in the day, we’re planning and shopping.

• Trying to figure out who gets what.
• Discovering which things sold out.
• And what food we need to bring.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the holidays. If I could magically find more time during the year when the family gets together and doesn’t worry about work for a few hours, I’m all in. It just means I’m spreading myself awfully thin.

Finally, there’s the “holiday week.”

A lot of my clients are closed for the last week of the year.

Guess what’s not closed? Bookkeeping.

There are payrolls to process. Last-minute bills to pay. Deposits to make. So, most years, I only get the 24th and 25th off.

Geez, Eric. Is this some sort of pity party?

Sorry, no, not at all.

Consider this a warning. It’s very easy to find yourself in the same boat. And if you get to the point where you’re actually experiencing burnout, it can be hard to get back on track.

So, what is burnout, exactly?

There was a great post on LinkedIn about this by Dora Vanourek.

​Check it out here.

To summarize, here are the 10 warning signs of burnout.

1. Physical exhaustion
2. Emotional overwhelm
3. Sleep disruption
4. Change in eating habits
5. Disconnecting from social life
6. Lack of motivation
7. Lack of self-care
8. Negative outlook
9. Physical ailments
10. Reduced performance

If you’re experiencing a few of these, it might be time to switch up your routines. Let’s break down a few ways to avoid this.

Guard your time

Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the time give to complete it.

In other words, have you ever wondered why most people work 40 hours per week?

Consider a large company. The admin, sales, marketing, accounting, and production teams all need the exact same amount of time to comlete their tasks each week? Doesn't that seem odd?

We work 40, 50, or more hours per week because that’s how much time we’ve allotted.

Have you ever realized that you had a project due the next morning? And then, magically, you got a week’s worth of work done in a day?

We rarely need 40 hours. By setting firm boundaries on your calendar, you carve out time for rest and recovery.

Plan ahead

Q4 is not a surprise. I didn’t wake up on October 1st and suddenly realize what time it was.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t plan 2023 very well. I got behind on a few projects, and that snowballed into a bit of a mess. What I (and all of you) should do is plan ahead to allow for more time.

Treat busy seasons the same as you would as a vacation.

In “Getting Things Done”, David Allen talks about how the week before a vacation is one of the most productive weeks. You know you’ll be away, so you get everything in order. That way you can come back without a huge pile of overdue tasks.

What I could have done was ensure I was a bit ahead of schedule in Q3. Even got a jump on the budget so it wasn’t all packed into a small window.

Don’t say yes to everything.

The real reason I find myself behind schedule this year isn’t related to client work at all.

In May, I decided it was time to take marketing more seriously. I thought that would mean spending a bit more time writing the newsletter and posting on social media.

Turns out I was very wrong.

A bit more writing turned into hours spent fixing profiles, sprucing up the website, and doing market research. That turned into trying to post on multiple platforms, and then trying to analyze the data from each. Of course, it was also necessary that I added watching YouTube videos, reading articles, and testing out courses.

What I should have done was focus on one platform. Test it out slowly so it didn’t take up too much time. Sure, I can’t get the same results by going slowly. But at least I don’t end up burning out by taking on too many new things at once.

It may not be marketing for you.

Maybe you say yes to too many new clients. Or too many last-minute requests from existing clients. Whatever it is, make sure you’re stepping back and looking at the big picture. Saying yes to one thing means you are implicitly saying no to something else.

Unfortunately, what you might be saying no to is your own well-being.

So, as we begin December, don’t let work get the best of you. As the overused saying goes, life is a marathon, not a sprint. There’s a limit to how much you can do yourself.

As you look at your list of projects this month, consider another lesson from David Allen. Before you assign yourself another project, see if you can do the following first.

• Delegate it to someone else.
• Defer it to a later date.
• Delete it entirely.

Do you recognize any of the signs of burnout? Have you experienced this before? Please hit reply and share your stories.

Until then, I hope you have an amazing week!

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