Hey friends! Happy New Year! We made it to the other side of 2020 and a seriously amazing holiday season. But I’m wondering, do you get post holiday burnout? Wether your are in the handmade/creative industry and you spent countless hours literally working your fingers to the bone, or your a Christmas fanatic and you spent days and days slaving away in the kitchen to bake cookies for everyone you know, or if the holidays just tire you out, here’s what I do every single year to get over the exhaustion and start fresh in the new year!
The first step for me is REST. Years ago this one was really hard for me. I’m a busy body, and get all the negative feelings when I’m “doing nothing”, but it turns out that is exactly what I need to be doing….nothing. Before understanding this about myself I used to place a lot of guilt around skipping a. workout, sleeping in, or just taking the day to sit on the couch and watch bad rom coms. But do you know what? It turns out that if I just chill the fuck out and listen to my body, it knows what I need to really recharge my batteries! So rest! Take a week or three off from the hustle and bustle of life and work and all the extra shit we pile up on our plates, and just rest! Now I’m not saying to shirk all responsibilities here, but let the house get a little messy, catch up on some garbage TV, cook a frozen dinner, you do you sis!
As I let my body rest and reset another key thing happens, RECOVERY. I don’t know if y’all saw my IG story a few months ago, but there was a point mid holiday rush when my hands were in really bad shape. When you make stuff for a living, that’s a terrible position to be in. This whole thing came to a head as I sat in tears at my bench unable to put a knife together because my fingers were so badly cut, bruised, and arthritic feeling. When I made that post I was overwhelmed with the amount of suggestions and remedies that you guys shared with me! Here’s what worked the best: for instant relief I soaked my hands in hot water with epsom salt, coconut oil, and peppermint and lavender essential oils. Then rubbed them down with arnica gel. It was so relaxing and took the pain away quickly. Then a sweet friend of mine sent me a care package full of some really amazing products that she created! (Be on the look out later this month for a feature on her and her amazing company) Using her products became ritual acts for me and aided in the long term recovery of my hands (and so much more!). I am blow away with the results!
This RECOVERY time was so good for my hands, but also totally crucial for my mind. Just slowing down and letting my brain clear out all the “to-do’s” allows me to start to think about what’s next. And that’s how we get to MOTIVATION. There’s this slippery slope between sitting around and watching that next episode of Love Island (yes I really love garbage television) to let my mind and body rest and recover, and “Alright Erin, It’s time to get back to work!” In the past I’ve found that if I go too long without working, it get’s really hard to start back up again. What works for me to start the fire back up? Making plans! All over my house there are tiny pieces of paper that have doodles for new ideas that I didn’t have to time to think about last quarter. I’d say that 90% of my doodles will never actually get made, but sketching ideas out is a great way for me to get re-focused on the task at hand. I also find that this time of year is great for working on some projects that are a little different, and maybe totally just for fun with no intention of selling them, you know just to get the creative juices flowing again. This year I also decided that I’m pulling the trigger on some collaborations that I’ve been talking about doing for far too long now. I’m really looking forward to creating with some of my favorite creators.
So, If you’ve made it this far, holy shit. Hahah that was a long one, but self care is a long road! There’s no quick fix to fully taking care of yourself. I hope that you are all finding yourselves rested, recovered, and motivated to take on this next year. I’d love to hear about how you are finding relief from the holiday season and 2020 in general! Share you tips, tricks, and ideas in the comments below and cheers to a New Year!
