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How Entrepreneurs Can Stay Productive During the Holidays

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staying productive during the holidays
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With the holidays coming up, it feels impossible to keep your focus, especially as an entrepreneur. While you might have struggled in the past, this year can be different! 

Below are four tips about productivity, stress management, and planning over the holidays for entrepreneurs:

1. Tidy up the loose ends 

Entrepreneurs need to have a bunch of irons in the fire at once. That’s how you move your business forward. However, the end of the year is when other businesses are winding down and usually making less purchasing decisions. Everything moves a little slower at the end of the year, and that’s not a bad thing for entrepreneurs. 

This means it’s the perfect time to wrap up all the loose ends you inevitably have floating around. That project you had to push aside? The leads you never followed up on? That idea that had to take a back seat to more pressing tasks? Now is the time to give them some attention. You never know where your next best idea is going to come from! 

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done” – Bruce Lee

2. Make a plan for next year 

If you’re thinking about your 2020 business plan on January 1st, you’re in a bad spot. You should already have a set business plan for the year, but now is the perfect time to start thinking about which projects you want to execute first.

We’ve shared that, “one of the questions that we should be asking is “What can I do to get more, to do more?”…as an entrepreneur, we have to be a little more creative than the average person and find ways to increase our capacity.” How are you going to increase your capacity in the new year? Where do you want to improve? Forget New Years Resolutions, start right now and you’ll be ahead of your competition.

3. Take time to celebrate

As an entrepreneur, you’re used to the grind. Your team hopefully is as well, but that doesn’t mean you all can hustle your way through the holiday season. You should respect your team’s time this holiday season. Flexible work schedules are popular for a reason on a regular day, but that goes doubly for the end of the year.

Celebrating as an office can be a morale boost as well! Just make sure that it’s an optional, since not everyone celebrates the same things. You don’t have to guess at this; just talk things through with your team! Find out who celebrates what and make sure they’re represented in your celebrations.

You also need to make sure you’re taking time off! Like we said, you can’t always be on the grind, or you’ll burn out, fast. Take this time to think about your accomplishments and enjoy your loved ones.

“We think there is endless time to live but we never know which moment is last. So share, care, love, and celebrate every moment of life.”

4. Get the help you need

You might be reading this and thinking, “Well that’s all nice in theory, but I have a business to run! When am I supposed to find time to celebrate with my team, plan ahead, and wrap up business for the year?” The answer is to make sure you get help! You have to make this time, and you can’t do it all on your own. The good news is that this is easier than ever with outsourcing. 

Get professionals online to handle tasks that are important but time consuming, like call answering and appointment scheduling. Freelancers on sites like Fiverr can handle quick design or video projects. Outsourcing year round makes a lot of sense, but it’s almost an essential during the holidays. Save your time and energy for the bigger picture!

The holidays are a great time to reflect on your success, consider your opportunities, and plan ahead. Make sure you enjoy every minute by being present, celebrating, setting your goals and getting the support you need. You deserve it!

How do you make sure to stay productive during the holidays? Share your ideas and thoughts with us below!

Parker Davis is the CEO of Nexa, a leader in the virtual receptionist and technology-enabled answering services industry. He believes that the application of data analytics, investment in technology, and fostering a positive company culture together create highly efficient and scalable growth companies. In 2016, Nexa achieved record revenues while also being awarded the Top Companies to Work For in Arizona award. Parker is also the Managing Partner of Annison Capital Partners, LLC, a private investment partnership. Follow him @callnexa and on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

Building a Business Empire: Lessons from the World’s Boldest Entrepreneurs

Learn essential lessons, success strategies, and mindset shifts every aspiring entrepreneur needs to overcome challenges and build a thriving business.

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how to build a business empire
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Back in July 2017, I attended a business seminar on entrepreneurship in India. With my appetite for learning and meeting new people, I wanted to explore the latest developments in the entrepreneurial world. (more…)

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Change Your Mindset

Why Ideas Are More Valuable Than Resources for Entrepreneurial Success

Discover why ideas, not resources, are the true driving force behind entrepreneurial success, innovation, and lasting growth.

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Power of ideas in entrepreneurship
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History shows us that the greatest minds, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Stephen King, and countless others, faced failure early on. Yet, instead of seeing failure as the end, they treated it as a comma in their story, not a full stop. (more…)

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