I’m Finally Learning to Unplug at Christmas

We all know that Christmas is the celebration of the Christian Messiah, Jesus Christ. Yet over the centuries, and especially over the last few decades, it has morphed into something very different.

Many people who celebrate Christmas today are not Christian. Those who are may not be particularly devoted. So does everyone seem to celebrate it?

Because it has become a timer for reflection.

It’s a pause. A moment to step back. A chance to take time off for yourself, your family, and the people you care about most. It’s a time to reflect on the year that just passed, the life you’re living, the relationships that matter, and to start thinking about what you want the next year to look like.

This week, my message to agency founders is pretty simple.

Try to unplug.

And I say “try” intentionally, because for most of my working life, I wasn’t very good at this.

In the past, I stayed busy right up to the very end. Building the agency. Before that, building a business with my wife. Before that, grinding away at a job. I remember more than one year where, one or two days before Christmas, I was still calling vendors, negotiating contracts, and pushing deals forward.

In my early twenties, one vendor actually stopped me and said, “Erik, what are you doing in the office? It’s six o’clock and it’s two days before Christmas. Go home. Be with your family.”

Unplugging was hard for me.

There was even one year when I worked so late on Christmas Eve that I drove to Walmart for a last-minute gift, only to find them literally locking the doors as I walked up. I didn’t even realize that Walmart ever closed. I had run all the way to the finish line.

That pattern of hustling right up to the finish line wasn’t healthy. It caused problems for the people who should have been closest to me. Sometimes I wasn’t present, physically or mentally, and neither most of the time.

If I could go back in time, I’d say this to my younger self: handle what you need to handle in the morning, then pull away in the early afternoon. Make plans with your family. Don’t just unplug and sit on the couch scrolling or decompressing. Make plans beforehand. Go do something. Take a walk. Get outside. Be intentional.

This year, that’s exactly what I’m doing. A few things today. Almost nothing tomorrow. No meetings. I’m available if needed, but I won’t be needed. We’re in a “stand-down period” until January 5th. And that’s great. On Christmas Day, I’m going to the beach with my wife.

So find something fun to do. Something relaxing. Anything but working on your agency. It will be there when you get back. I promise, the work will be there waiting for you. And that’s great.

I hope that helps and gives you something to think about.

~ Erik

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