This happens a little bit sooner every single year. 
 
By the time December rolls around I am ready. 
 
Ready for rest. 
 
Ready to stop. 
 
Ready to clear my diary. 
 
Ready to retreat. 
 
And yet, still, my inner “busy girl” wants to keep going. She wants to write the Christmas cards. She wants to arrange the catch ups. She wants to start planning and prepping and figuring out what the “holidays” look like. 
 
She also wants to set herself up for an incredible start to the year.
 
And sometimes, if I’m not careful, that enthusiasm she has can weigh me down very quickly. If I don’t keep a careful eye on her, that enthusiasm can tip the scales into overdoing and overcommitting and over controlling. 
 
But I bet you’re not like that, right? You probably are feeling super calm, spacious, and full of ease right now? You’re ready to sail on into the end of the year with perfect balance and harmony. 
 
Or not. 😉 
 
So, here’s what I do when I know that I’m exhausted, but that busy girl in me is full of enthusiasm: 
 
I listen. 
 
Really closely! 
 
But instead of listening to her first, I tune into my body first. I ask my heart what she really needs. Because “Busy Danielle” – she’s not that conscious or intentional. She’s on autopilot. And what she thinks she wants isn’t what she needs anymore. 
 
My body tends to tell me things like: 
 
Clear!  
 
So I remove as much as possible from my diary, set early out of office reminders, start telling people early and often that I’m taking a full two weeks off at the end of the year. I’ve been doing this for weeks already. And keep returning to my diary daily to see if there’s anything else that could simply be removed or rescheduled until next year. Less is more!  
 
I’ve notified my clients of my time away, my extended team, and have blocked out my diary for months (the 2-weeks actually went in right back in January when I did my Planning session for the year!). 
 
Cuddle!  
 
As in, give myself those warm, cosy feelings. Go slow (literally, walk slowly). Spend time with my notebooks, journals or reading. Lay on the bed in the middle of the afternoon and shut my eyes – even if for 2mins.  
 
I’ve been doing this by lighting candles a lot at the moment and keeping the lights dim. It feels cosy, like a surrounding cuddle. I’ve also been making sure I feel warm – the textures of my cosy jumpers, or running hot baths, or putting on my fluffiest socks and piling three big blankets on top of me when I watch the telly. 😉 
 
Connect!  
 
With me.  
 
As in create a little more ‘alone time’. Despite this time of year feeling like we want to (and need to) connect with others, it is just as critical to create spaciousness to be with ourselves. For me that looks like not feeling like I “have to” hang out with my partner, even though we’re both at home chilling out together. Or I don’t have to arrange all those catch ups before the year end, it can wait. Instead, it’s a reminder that what my body really wants is time to chat with itself.  
 
I do this with things like: coffee dates with myself, time away from my computer and instead scribbling in my notebooks, pottering around the house organising (the gentle, soft, enjoyable kind – like rearranging my recipe books, or clearing a shelf that’s been bugging me for some time). 
 
If you’re feeling a little exhausted right now, I’m not surprised. It’s been a big year. It’s more than okay to slow things down and start tuning within. What is your body telling you tonight? 
 
May it whisper to you exactly what you need to hear.