My focus was dead: to begin with.

TL;DR: Break down your year-end goals into bite-size tasks, and tap into community to help you stay focused and accountable this season.

I am not what you would call "incredibly organized." And December can be a challenging time for me: trying to strike a balance between end-of-year business commitments and a fuller family calendar.

It's a recipe for a lack of focus and lackluster results.

In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of Q4 project deadlines, 1/2 cup of business bookkeeping stuff, 3 cups of holiday fun and general schedule floppiness, 1 Tbsp of head cold, and a sprinkle of distracting Cyber Monday promotions. Bake at 350º until you burn out. Serve warm with too much coffee.

I honestly don't feel qualified to offer advice on this topic because I don't think I manage my time during this season as well as I could. But I'll share a few things I'm trying out to stay focused and finish the year as strong as I can.

1. Prioritize your people and give yourself grace.

You're being asked to do more with less time. Things will probably slip. So we can either stress about that, or get ahead of it and choose what we're going to put on the back burner.

Case in point: When was the last time I sent out a newsletter? (Hint: It was more than a week ago). Things got busier, we traveled for Thanksgiving, and I haven't been as consistent with content as I'd like. But I can't beat myself up about it. I'm letting other things take priority. I'm pushing some mashed potatoes off my plate to make more room for the smoked brisket my wife's cousin made for Thanksgiving. (The newsletter is mashed potatoes.)

I'm not excusing poor work or laziness. But I'm excusing myself for a few days to enjoy time with the most important people in my life, and I'm not too proud to apologize to slightly less important people (no offense) for falling behind on a deliverable while I was prioritizing family time.

2. Make a "Death List."

Back in college, at the end of every semester I would write out a list of all the final assignments, classes, and exams I needed to get through. I called it "The Death List." Because I was being dramatic. It was a small thing, but it helped to get things out of my brain and in front of my face, and I got a little dopamine hit every time I crossed something off: "One step closer to Christmas break!"

I'm not going to pretend I'm offering you revolutionary productivity advice. "Make a list" has been around since before the Pyramids. But it's so simple, I confess, I undervalue it and underutilize it.

3. Get accountable.

Ben and Jody, I told you I was going to get this newsletter out today, didn't I?

Sometimes we just need a little nudge. We might not be too bothered to let ourselves down, but we're especially averse to letting other people down.

A lot of projects already have accountability baked in and we'll step up to the plate to meet client deadlines. Small businesses and solopreneurs, on the other hand, have a lot of important things we need to do for ourselves to keep our business moving forward, but those are often the first things we'll let slide and keep pushing off.

If you're the only stakeholder in a project, invite other people to look over your shoulder and check in on you. That's what we're doing this month in the Sidekick Mastermind. In addition to our regular calls, we added a mid-week check-in to share one thing we crossed off our list. Now the tasks I probably would have quietly pushed off to another day feel a little more urgent — because I want to show up the best I can for my crew, and I want them to do the best they can to build amazing businesses.

Just a few small, simple steps that can help us get through this busy holiday season, keeping both our "Death Lists" and our Christmas lists in balance without burning out.