Tag Archives: hummingbird bridal and events

The Holiday Slump

By Amanda the GrinchGrinch pic

Look. I realize I’ve been a Debbie Downer with my last few blog posts. I apologize. I can be a raging grinch around the holidays.

Fact of the matter is, I love the holidays. Who doesn’t? What I hate dealing with are the holidays in relation to my career. Getting clients to pay invoices, getting contracts back, getting people to reply to emails or tie up projects just becomes incredibly difficult at the holidays. Not to mention, the job market all but slows to a halt. The whole month of December leaves me in a cold sweat, wreaking of gingerbread.

Ooooh, Grumpypants McGee over here has a case of the holiday blues.

This is the time of year when I have to roll up my sleeves and get creative. I reach for the list of career maintenance projects, pull out all of the old work I’ve been putting off and try to keep myself busy, lest I go crazy waiting for the holiday slump to subside.

The worst part of the holiday slump is the not-knowing. Not knowing when clients will get back to you. Not knowing when the freelance gigs will pick up again. Not knowing if that gingerbread house you just scarfed was actually edible. Was that frosting or paste?? I wish you could see the half-crazy-extra-jolly look on my face as I type this.

What my incredibly patient husband reminds me of during this holiday season is that I can’t let myself hyperfocus on the slump. Worrying about it, stomping around the house and sending email after email to the same clients won’t solve the problem. I’ve got to keep a clear head and stay positive. As he reminds me from behind the locked door where he is safe from my “crazy jolly eyes,” we do this every year.

In the back of my mind, I know things will eventually return to normal. I know that the clients will eventually call me back, the projects will pick up again and I won’t be seen walking around town with pieces of wrapping paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I know that a return to normal life is sure to come. Until then, give me another glass of eggnog and point me to the mistletoe. Let’s enjoy these holidays like there’s no tomorrow.

Amanda Smyth Connor is a SEMPO-certified SEO specialist, has managed online communities and nationwide marketing campaigns for several start-up and  Fortune 500 companies, and has been an editor for more years than she can remember. She also runs her own wedding planning company, Hummingbird Bridal and Events, throughout the northeast.