Do you love the hustle and bustle of the holidays, or does it feel overwhelming? Do you live for the long list of work responsibilities, social parties, and family get-togethers, or do you grit your teeth to get through the day to day?
It certainly can feel like a “silly season” with all the demands and commitments, parties and obligations, and the challenge of balancing work and personal life.
Here at Vitalia Inc, we may not be immune to the craziness of the holidays, but we do take care to ensure we are utilizing our systems and best practices to keep all of our projects and tasks on track.
I have always found organization to be key, with a focus on prioritizing and communication to make sure all tasks are completed on schedule and that all stakeholders are aware of where we are at with a project.
Here is a more specific list of my to-do’s in December.
Business:
1. Fabricate and install December projects. (our design clients know dates and times). This sounds very put-together. The reality is much messier. It often means that workroom’s lights are still on at 12midnight. And I personally start sewing (now that’s scary – )
2. Plan out January work in terms of appointments and production orders.
3. Defer revenue and load up on expenses. This is the time to purchase plane tickets for conferences next year; buy extra supplies like lining, printing paper, or stamps; one year, I even bought a new car on December 30th!
4. Notice, I don’t have anything here about goals for next year. Honestly, I’m just trying to hang on and not completely lose my marbles. Anything that’s not immediately related to survival (like goals, ha!), is deferred to January
5. This is the time of year that I always decide what conferences to attend, what coaching I need, who I am going to collaborate with for masterminding and group coaching, and my self improvement initiatives.
If you are also deciding how to invest in yourself and your business, you may be interested to know that I will be offering a Profit With Window Treatments course in January along with my friend and business coach LuAnn Nigara of A Well Designed Business® podcast.
If your self investment plan includes learning how to effortlessly integrate window treatments into your business and profit from them, we’d love to have you join us! Visit https://luannnigara.com/profit-window-treatments/ to learn more and register (PS – early bird pricing is available until December 19th!)
Personal
1. Decorate the tree – my favorite day of the year!
2. Go through gift list. I have a spreadsheet from previous years (yes, I know, I love my spreadsheets). I try not to forget people like my handyman, cleaning woman, and recycling guys
3. Do something special with family. For us locally, it’s a trip to the Radio City Music Hall, Philly Pops, or the Nutcracker.
4. Take some time off. Our last installation is usually before Christmas. We don’t schedule any installations between Christmas and shortly after New Year’s. It’s time for my sewing staff to rest from long hours of fabricating. It’s time for me to not think about the daily hustle.
I’m fortunate and grateful to have such an incredible staff to help me work towards my goal of providing the very best custom luxury window treatments and soft furnishings to the talented interior designers in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and beyond.
I also make sure that at the end of the day, my beautiful family knows that they will always be #1
What are your best practices for keeping your sanity this time of the year? If your goals for better managing your interior design business include working with professionals that can take the stress out of window treatments and make them a profitable part of your design and business, then look no further than Vitalia Inc. You can consider us an extension of your team, and know that your window treatment and soft furnishings needs will be expertly executed from start to finish.
Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season from all of us at Vitalia Inc!
