Tis the Season to Keep Working

The clock is ticking.  Christmas is just ten days away.  Last minute shoppers are, well, waiting until the last minute.  Travelers are starting to think about preparations for heading out on the roads.

But what about you, up-and-coming performer?  Are you still out on the road putting on your best show for audiences near and far?  Or are you too taking a lounging posture, mailing it in in a way that doesn’t involve the USPS?

Somehow related to the early bird who gets the worm is the last-minute booker that offers you a late gig.  The latter is meant as a reference to something that might be, say, two days before Christmas, or even on Christmas Eve.  Or, gasp, the day after Christmas, when people want to lounge around and do nothing or, at most, just go out to the movies.

While employee productivity no doubt free falls this week and next in the final days leading up to Christmas, you need to be doing the exact opposite.  Unless your name is, say, Jason Aldean and, thus, you don’t need to outwork the competition, there is little margin for error at the point your career currently sits.  And therefore there is very little room for sitting around playing the “but it’s the holidays” card.

True, many places of business pare down to a skeleton staff during the holidays.  Schools go to the extreme of being out altogether.  But although holiday parties have long had their entertainment booked that is not a signal that there’s no work left until January 2nd.

While such late bird might find a worm that is a non-holiday-related booking, there is also work that can be caught up on when your calls are being met with, “Check back with me after the first of the year.”

For example, is your website up-to-date?  When was the last time you sent out your email newsletter?  When was the last time you uploaded a video to YouTube?  Now is also a great time to upload those pictures that were shot at those gigs you played over Labor Day weekend.

Remember that you too are a business.  So, since three weeks from now the year will already be over, what about your accounting?  Is everything shored up so that when it comes time to meet with the accountant in early 2015 you’ll be prepared?

Rather than the Christmas list you sent out to people showing what you want from Santa this year, review the above list.  Instead of thinking this is a dead time of year, you might actually find yourself to be busier than you realized could be the case.

Oh, and did I mention rehearsing for that all-important New Year’s Eve gig?