What If You Didn’t Push Through December?
December comes with a lot of expectations.
Finish the year strong.
Tie up loose ends.
Get everything done before Christmas.
Make plans for January.
For many women running businesses or leading not-for-profits, December is also one of the busiest months of the year. Sales peak, projects wrap up, events happen, and there is often very little space to slow down.
This post is not about doing less when you genuinely cannot. It is about questioning the extra pressure we add on top, and thinking more intentionally about what actually needs your energy right now.
Because not everything has to be pushed through December.
When December Is Your Busiest Month
If December is a key sales month for your business, pushing through may be unavoidable. You might be fulfilling orders, delivering services, supporting clients at their busiest, or managing cash flow at a higher volume.
That work matters. It is often the work that sustains your business into the quieter months.
What tends to cause the most exhaustion, though, is not the essential work. It is the unnecessary work we pile on alongside it.
This often shows up as reviewing your entire business strategy, reworking pricing or packages, starting new systems “before the year ends”, making big financial decisions under pressure, or trying to plan the whole of next year.
December is rarely the best time for any of these.
Not Everything Is Urgent Just Because the Year Is Ending
There is something about the end of the calendar year that makes everything feel urgent, even when it is not.
The truth is, most things do not change on 1 January.
Your business does not reset overnight.
Your finances do not disappear if something takes a few weeks.
Your capability does not reduce because you paused.
If something is important, it will still be important in January, and you will likely make better decisions when you are rested.
What Actually Deserves Your Focus in December
Instead of pushing everything through, it can help to separate your work into three simple categories.
1. Essential and time-sensitive
This is the work that genuinely needs to happen now. Sales delivery, client commitments, payroll, and critical deadlines fall into this category.
Do this, and protect your time and energy for it.
2. Important but not urgent
This is work that matters, but does not need to be finished this month. Planning, reviews, system improvements, and bigger financial decisions can wait.
Make a note of these, then consciously leave them for January.
3. Noise
These are tasks that feel productive but are not truly necessary right now. Tweaking, overthinking, or reworking things that are already “good enough” often sit here.
Let these go, at least for now.
Being selective is not avoidance. It is leadership.
What to Do After the Rush
If December is intense for your business, what matters most is what happens after.
Instead of moving straight from busyness into planning mode, consider giving yourself a pause, even a small one.
That pause might look like a few days with no business decisions, clearing emails without responding straight away, looking at numbers without analysing them, or resting without trying to justify it.
This space is where clarity returns.
From a financial point of view, it is also when better choices are made. Decisions made when you are tired are often reactive. Decisions made after rest tend to be calmer, more confident, and more sustainable.
You Are Allowed to Stop Pushing
Pushing through has become a badge of honour, especially for women in business.
But constantly pushing is not the same as being committed. And rest is not the opposite of progress.
Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do for your business, and yourself, is to stop adding pressure where it is not needed.
December will end whether you squeeze everything in or not.
Your business will still be there in January.
So will your ideas, your plans, and your capability.
What if you didn’t push through December, and trusted that doing less now might actually help you do better later?