Getting through the holidays (sanely) as a working mom is kinda like having a baby. You can’t really start preparing for the whole shebang 9 months in. Well you could, I suppose, but that’s going to lead you to a whole lotta extra stress in the midst of an already stressful situation.

Taking steps even months before the big day (or season) is going to make everything feel a lot smoother and seamless. In our final week of the Working Mom’s Guide to the Holidays, we’re jumping into how to manage aaaaall work parties and obligations that come your way during this time of year.

By now you know, I’m going to start you back at your Centered Vision and deciding what matters most to you. This is the key to any season of your life. YOU get to be the decider. YOU get to set the tone. Even when it’s things you might not be totally jazzed about doing.

There are a few things you can do to make it more enjoyable (or at least not the worst.)

Batch work to get ahead:

We know when the holidays are coming. It’s not a surprise each year. And generally, you can predict what your workload will look like this time of year if you’ve been at your job for any length of time. 

I love to look at my work stuff a quarter at a time, so next year I recommend starting In October to look at what you’ve got coming up the rest of the year. You’ll be able to see where you can batch things together to get yourself ahead and give a little bit of breathing room in your calendar. 

While I’d like to have a time machine to be able to take you back to October to get a leap on getting ahead for holiday work, that’s not happening. But it’s not too late! We’ve got 19 days till Christmas (don’t panic!) and you still have time to make some shifts.

What projects can you finish up so that you don’t have to think about them over your time off? What projects can wait until the new year to keep working on them? With those out of the way, you can add in some hours to the more pressing things that can get done now. 

Kendra Adachi calls it her “magic question”: What can you do now that will make things easier on yourself later? What work can you do now so that you can have more time with your family without thoughts of work trying to push themselves back in? If you can make it so you don’t have to “just do a little work” on your vacation, I promise you that you’ll be so grateful you did it. 

Take an ariel view of your calendar:

Let’s talk work parties. Did you read our blog a few weeks ago about school obligations? We’re going to give this the same treatment. First, make note of any super heavy work days or weeks. Then, mark all of the non-negotiables. 

Lastly, find your magic number. This is the number of events that you can realistically take on while still enjoying yourself. Could be an extra per week or a total of 3 for the whole season. 

Now you can put these on your calendar knowing you’ve made choices that honor your already scheduled work load, your commitments that you’ve previously made (not gonna miss Nana’s 89th birthday party!), and ones that you will enjoy the most (or hate the least.)

Let it go:

Be like Elsa, and just let those puppies fly. Everything else that doesn’t fit on the calendar or isn’t located anywhere near your Centered Vision needs to take a hike. You can’t hold guilt for missing a party that truly doesn’t matter if you’re there. Or for deciding you won’t be attending the $250/plate fundraiser because you’re already on a tight budget this year. 

Remember, YOU get to decide!