Published on: November 15, 2022
Reading time: 3 minutes
The holiday season is a busy time of year for Etsy sellers. The majority of us make a large part of our income during these few short months. With so much to accomplish during this time, it’s easy to overdo it and potentially burn out. This can negatively impact your mental and physical health as well as your relationships. Today we are going to look at a few tips to help prevent getting burned out during the holidays.
Set a schedule
One of the easiest ways to help you avoid overwhelming and overworking yourself is to plan a schedule and stick to it. Decide when you want to spend time working on your Etsy shop and when you want to spend time resting and try your best to stick to that schedule.
Striking a balance between work and life is crucial to avoiding burnout. Try to incorporate time into your schedule to do things that bring you joy and that allow you to clearly define the line between work time and personal time. Remember, you are your own boss, so the power to plan your schedule is in your hands.
Extend your processing time
Before your queue of orders becomes alarming, consider extending your processing time. This way, you still keep your shop open while gaining time to catch up.
Tip! In addition to changing the processing time in your shipping profiles, consider adding these time frames to your shop policies.
Once you feel as if you’ve got your queue down to a manageable point again, you can reset your processing times to where you see fit.
Delegate tasks
Take a look at all the tasks you need to accomplish to keep your shop running efficiently. What tasks do you love doing? What tasks do you absolutely dread? Consider getting part-time help for those. A virtual assistant is an option for doing routine digital tasks you find tedious or that eat up too much of your time.
Take care of your body
Eating properly and getting enough sleep are essential to a healthy mind. And without a healthy mind, being productive can be an uphill struggle. Accordingly, avoid skipping meals and skimping on sleep as ways to cope with your workload. It may seem as if the extra time you gain is a benefit, but over time, it will wear you down.
Don’t overpromise
Shaping customer expectations is so important when selling on Etsy. Avoid overpromising on what you can do for a customer. It is vital to the balance of keeping them happy while not exhausting yourself. Extending your lead times is one way to shape customer expectations. Do you take custom orders or offer personalization? Be mindful of overpromising there, too –especially during busy times. If you foresee that a client’s request will likely take too much time or resources, kindly decline the order and move on.
Know when to take a break
While it can be hard to leave money on the table, it’s at your busiest that it’s most crucial to recognize when you need a break. Disconnect overnight. Stop any work related to your shop for an afternoon. Check your local Holiday mailing deadlines and post them in your shop announcement. Then put your shop in vacation mode for a few days while you let yourself rest. Because you’ve earned it!
Wishing you all a prosperous holiday season!
We hope this helps you have a successful holiday season. While earning is important, your mental and physical well-being are more important. When you take care of yourself first, productivity will follow.
Do you have tips for avoiding burnout? Share them over on our eRank Facebook group.