December Productivity Rebellion: Practice Radical Rest
This is The Productivity Rebellion.
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December is chaos wrapped in twinkling lights.
Everyone's talking about gratitude and reflection and winding down the year, but you're dealing with gift shopping, holiday parties, school concerts, year-end client deadlines, and the pressure to "set yourself up for success" in January. 🙄
And underneath all of it is this question you're not saying out loud: "Am I allowed to just... stop?"
Here's what I want you to know: Yes.
You're allowed to close your business for the holidays.
You're allowed to be completely unavailable.
You're allowed to rest without earning it.
Rest is not a reward for productivity. Rest is a requirement for sustainability and growth.
This Month: Practice Radical Rest
Not "I'll rest after I finish this one thing" (there's always one more thing). Not "I'll check email just once" (you think you won't get sucked in, but you will).
Radical rest means: Completely. Unplug.
This month:
Pick 3-5 days where you are FULLY offline. No email. No Slack. No "quick check."
Tell everyone your closed dates NOW (clients, family, yourself)
Delete work apps from your phone if you have to
Your business will not implode. Your clients will survive. And you will come back in January actually rested instead of running on fumes from month one.
Every year I take the last 2 weeks of the year completely off (I realize this is not possible for everyone who doesn’t make their own schedule).
This was something I had to build up to over the years and is now a hard boundary for me.
If you’d like to create this time for yourself, the links in the “If This Resonated” section below will help.
Here’s a quick rundown of how I structure this month:
The first 1-2 weeks are for finalizing client work, content scheduling, etc. through the first week of January (so I don’t have to dive in right away).
The 3rd week is when I review my entire year (stats, analytics, bookkeeping, etc).
The weeks of Christmas to New Years are completely unplugged.
No posting (even scheduled) on social media
We plan our 12 nights of Yule as a family (each night we do an activity like hot chocolate and driving around to look at lights, or game night, etc).
I have plenty of books and games ready for me and our family.
I disable or delete all social media on my phone (even Pinterest).
It’s hard at first to not feel like I should be doing something, or using my phone as a default distraction - but within a couple days, it FEELS SO GOOD.
Calm. Slow. Intentional. Restful. Present.
And I wish the same experience (even if it’s only a couple days) for you this month.
Behind the Chaos: November went off the rails!
Sometime in early November I had an inkling that I needed to check-in on my daughter’s schoolwork (we homeschool and she’s in 7th grade).
Long story short, I discovered she’d been BS-ing us for several weeks and not doing her work (the bs she tried to feed us was laughable 😂).
The outcome was lots of privileges taken away and me having to spend far more time supervising her…
…which meant far less time for me to work on my business and content.
I went from 3-4 hours per day if I was lucky, to about 2. I was angry and resentful that her sneakiness and lack of self-discipline was causing me to stress over my work not getting done, and I started to feel the pressure of being behind, tired, and anxious.
Thrown in the mix was driving out of town with my mom for 3 days the week before Thanksgiving for a family friend’s funeral (which resulted in my mom giving me the cold she had), and then the week of Thanksgiving, my Black Friday offer for Chaos Detox, and on and on.
I’m sure this sounds so familiar to many of you. Best laid plans and all, right?
Here was the unexpected silver lining: Not having the time to double-batch my podcast episodes (so I wouldn’t have to record in December) prompted me to reevaluate my workflow and process, and I realized I’d been doing a lot of work that didn’t matter (uploading a stock video version to Youtube), and not doing easy stuff that does (uploading a transcript to Buzzsprout for SEO).
💡I was forced to streamline and prioritize the to-do’s with the best ROI due to lack of time.
This is a great month to consider reevaluating something (a workflow, routine, etc) that might need to be streamlined - what could that be for you?
Ask Cara
Got a question about your business, your schedule, your sanity—whatever you're struggling with?
I answer subscriber questions on the Ditch the Chaos podcast. Think of it as free expert coaching without the commitment.
If This Resonated
On the podcast:
Clear Your To-Do List: Rest and Recharge Over the Holidays
In this episode of Ditch the Chaos, we’re breaking down how to clear your to-do list before vacation so you can actually unplug, recharge, and enjoy your time away—whether it’s the holiday season or your next summer getaway.
→Listen on Apple.
→Listen on Spotify.
*Bonus: On December 4th, I’ll be publishing this episode: 7 Types of Rest Every Work-From-Home Entrepreneur Needs
In this episode, you'll learn:
- The seven types of rest every entrepreneur needs to avoid burnout
- Why sleep alone isn't enough to restore your energy
- 10-minute practical ideas for each type of rest
- How to build rest into your daily routines without losing time
- Why intentional rest is a business strategy, not a reward
⌛Don’t miss it! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
On the blog:
How Digital Overload Is Wrecking Your Focus—And What to Do About It
Content fatigue isn’t a focus problem—it’s a habits problem. Learn how digital input overload is draining your energy and wrecking your nervous system and what to do to reclaim clarity.
👉This is why even “time off” can feel not restful!
Read More →
That's it for December friends. I wish you so much love, connection, and rest this month as we say goodbye and let go of 2025.
See you January 1st!
Here's to creating white space in your calendar and breathing room in your brain. 🖤
xo,
Cara
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