Holiday Barber Basics

Self-Care During the Holiday Season

Ways to Ensure You’re Doing What’s Right For You This Busy Season

We’re not going to sit here and pretend that the holiday season isn’t the bustling, busy season that ever barber dreams of. Because honestly? It is. 

The holiday season is prime-time for people in the beauty or barber biz—people have places to go, relatives to see, holiday parties to attend, work functions to survive through, and they need to be lookin’ good when they do it.

That’s where you come in.

As a barber, it’s really easy to sink into the busy season with your head down, your focus lasered in on making money—and we don’t blame you. There’s plenty of opportunity to make buckets of barbering bills, which can make it really tempting to settle into the busy season with that mindset at the forefront.

But before you set up a cot in the back and prepare yourself for 3 months of non-stop business, ask yourself a question—what am I doing to manage my own self-care during the holiday busy season?

If you don’t often check in with your own self-care, there’s no time like now to start—especially as your days begin to get busier and busier.

Here’s the kicker about the holidays—sure, it’s ideal to make tons of money and bring in lots of clients, but if you’re not taking care of yourself this holiday season, you better believe that burnout is coming your way.

We’re going to make a very bold statement here: taking care of yourself this busy season needs to be a priority.

If you’re entirely unsure about where to even begin with self-care strategies (which, by the way, can help guarantee you a lucrative busy season and a happy holiday season at the same time), you’re in the right place.

Go the Heck to Sleep

We’re going to start this off really bluntly—you absolutely have to sleep. Settling for 3-4 hours of sleep every night is just not going to cut it, guys.

Why? Because even if you can make it a few weeks running on little-to-no sleep, you’re inevitably going to hit a wall and crash (and you’re going to crash hard).

Without sleep, your body and your mind are defenseless—they can’t tackle challenges, illnesses, or anything that comes their way unless you’re giving yourself the rest you deserve (and physically need!)

Be Okay with that Two-Letter Word—NO

Either start learning how to delegate to your staff (if you have them) or start learning how to say that beautiful-but-forbidden word that they teach you never to say when you’re running a small business—NO.

Seriously, there is so much power in the word “no.”

We’re not telling you to be jerks to potential clients, but we are telling you to weight out what’s worth it to you. For example, if you get a last-minute client who wants a fade and a beard shaping, but you were planning on closing in five minutes, is the extra $$ really worth the extra 45 minutes you’d be stuck in your shop?

It’s okay to reschedule, it’s okay to compromise, it’s okay to say no to more business.

Stop Living at the Shop

Oh my god, you guys—just go home. Maybe your shop has a fantastic atmosphere, maybe it’s actually really calming, maybe you love being there more than anywhere else.

Closing the door and switching the sign to closed isn’t enough. You have to go home. As long as you’re in that shop, you’ll be in work-mode, and for the love of god, you have to switch into human mode for at least a percentage of your day if you want to remain sane.

Do Things You Love

Pay Attention to Your Body & Your Mind

It’s so easy to ignore your physical and mental well-being when you’re totally slammed with business—especially when you’re raking in dollars, too. But neglecting your health is a huge no-no for several reasons, the least of them being that you’ll be struggling to keep up with your barbering biz. 

Despite being super busy, it’s vital that you’re doing what you need to do for your body—make sure you’re moving, you’re fueling your body with the proper nutrition, you’re taking the time out to stretch or check in with yourself mentally.

Your physical and mental well-being are both so important to your quality of life—and honestly, if you’re bringing in tons of money and reaching more clients than ever but you feel absolutely miserable while you’re doing it, does it even really matter?

Actually Enjoy The Holiday Season

The holiday season has probably solely become busy season to you—but guess what, folks, for most people out there (who aren’t in the beauty or barbering industries), it’s actually the holiday season.

​They’re out there enjoying the snow, the lights, the presents, the food—what a novel idea, right? Get out there and enjoy all the beautiful things that come with the holiday season—spend time with your family, take holiday photos, sip on hot cocoa. 

Do the things you’re supposed to do during the holidays—don’t just let them fly by.