Some people thrive in rest mode. But most of the actors who find my page are not those people. We love to achieve. We love to get a leg-up on the work. We love the work!!! And while it is socially acceptable to power down around holidays, the Christmas-to-New Year’s time is exceptionally weird because it’s a whole week and there are so few things to accomplish.

I made this video and podcast about actually learning to take rest seriously, so I would suggest you start there. But if you are rapidly approaching an overload of people telling you to calm the f*ck down, I shall instead suggest partaking in any of the activities listed here. They range in cost of your energy and time so please don’t treat this like a To Do List. Think of it as some suggestions that would be nice to touch on should you have the desire. And then put this away again till next year.

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Look around your home for things that drive you bananas.

I can already tell you what this means to me. When I sit at my desk I am an arm’s length from my closet. Although that door stays closed, I know behind it is a bunch of shelves of mixed clothes. Ideally, they would be one section of leggings, one section of workout tops, one section of cozy pants, one section of t-shirts…you get me. But what I actually have right now is a pile of material that I anxiously sift through in a hurry most of the time to grab the same shirt I went running in last week yet again because it is on top of the pile and I have no idea what is even on the bottom at this point. This area of my home makes me feel crazy. I can never find anything and just want half of it gone. This is a very long-winded way of saying I am going to clean out my damn closet.

Maybe for you, there is a cabinet in your kitchen that houses the food dehydrator that seemed like a good purchase in 2018 but is now dusty and surrounded by reusable grocery bags that need their own home too. Whatever it is, now is the time to clean it out. Ditch the things that were a sunk cost (RIP to the frilly skirt from the 2020 NYE party) and give yourself space. You know for a fact things will pick up again and you will be frustrated by not having time to organize your on-camera makeup so please join me in playing keep or trash with your lip glass samples from the last 2 years.

Binge a podcast or YouTube you’ve been waiting for.

I am YouTube-obsessed. I love the platform. I am also a rabid consumer of pods. And there are some shows I have found recently that I just can’t get enough of…but I don’t have time to listen to 4 hours of content a day right now. Enter Christmas break. I will be juggling some nutrition pods, fun YouTubes, and a few platforms I have lost touch with of bloggers whose mildly mundane life brings me so much joy I wish I could explain it. Go find yours! Now is the time!

Note: I mention below taking a social media break, I personally don’t consider YouTube watching in this, as it feels more like TV to me.

Some OBA Extras

So maybe you can’t put down the need to do some kind of actor-based work. Fine. Then adding to the topic above, may I suggest subscribing to the OBA Youtube where I already have a ton of full-length content? And if you are a podcaster who has consumed all of the One Broke Actress at this point, allow me to introduce you to the Patreon where they have their own full podcast feed with 28 episodes and counting, a podcast every week. And lots of things on actor goal setting coming up if you really need to sink your teeth in.

Go through all your bookmarks.

If you are like me you have a “saved” folder in IG. A Pinterest board (or 17) you have neglected, and about 100 saved articles on your “Read Later” tab. Let’s put them to work! Why not go through and try some of the saved recipes you found on Tiktok? Actually, organize your list of gifts you tagged for friends this year. Or read all those long Atlantic articles you were actually interested in but totally forgot about…ok you can probably skip past anything from 2020 at this point but you know what I mean.

Actually take time to absorb that online course you bought last year.

Online courses are not going anywhere. I personally own about 5 and love the site Skill Share (not an ad) as well. I have told myself I would revisit them in the past and just never seem to have the time or energy. This is our queue! And if you missed it, I made a course this year that is totally on your own schedule too, called What To Do When You’re Not Working, and if you need to be soothed in this time before pseudo-pilot season things come at you (and if you have made it this far in this article) use the code XMASTIME10 for 10% off.

Join me in attempting to take a Socials Break

I know a lot of the things I listed here involve opening social media apps, so this is where you get to Choose Your Own Adventure. I will be totally MIA for the next 7-10 days and seeing what my life looks like without content creation or consumption, something that is a major part of my current day-to-day. As I work on myself for next year, my biggest goal is learning to put on my blinders, meaning focus on what I have in my life and coming up for me, not what someone else is doing. If I did a Word of the Year I suppose it would be focus? Hmm…something to ponder over while not opening IG!

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Regardless of how you spend your last days of 2022, please know you are all a really special and important part of my life. As creatives we supply each other with our gift of energy and to have you on my page in any capacity, I consider it a damn honor.

See you next year. 😉