One of the nice things about the traditional holiday slowdown is it allows you to take a breath. We’re typically going 100 miles per hour and have limited time to focus on anything that doesn’t score an 8.5 or above on the priority scale. A little less chaos means a lot more time to get your ducks in a row.

Connect
The holidays are all about appreciating those who mean something to us. Since socializing is kind of the norm this time of year, set up some face time with your current and prospective clients. Send holiday cards. Clean up your database. Attend a few of the many events open to you. Work on building your connections so you can hit the ground running in January!

Audit
Non-essential paperwork and analytics take a backseat to tasks that need to be done NOW during the rest of the year. Use this slowdown to analyze this year’s performance, accounting for the overall market, as well as your role in your own success (or lack thereof). This is the perfect time to get a plan in place for 2019.

Plan Ahead
There’s not much I can guarantee in life, but I can guarantee you this: the holiday slowdown will happen again – get this – in about 10 months. So start preparing! Come up with feasible strategies you can put in place by late spring or early summer to mitigate the inevitable turning of the seasons.