Are you a small business owner who struggles to motivate during the winter months? If you’re like me, winter is the hardest time to stay productive, focus, and make progress. I struggle with seasonal affective disorder, which basically means my depression increases and intensifies as the days get colder and darker. 

If you struggle with seasonal depression or seasonal affective disorder as an entrepreneur, it can be detrimental for your business.

My first business came to a full stop when the winter months hit because I didn’t prepare in advance. 

Planning, batching, and scheduling as much of your content ahead of time is imperative if you want to stay afloat.  

I’ve come to learn that my workload and ability to complete multiple tasks decreases dramatically during the winter. That being said, I give all of my available energy to my clients so they still see the amazing results they invested in. 

Anything that’s self-serving, as in content creation to drive awareness and engagement to my brand, is something that needs to be done ahead of time. If it’s not, chances are it won’t be done at all.

Do you struggle with seasonal affective disorder too? Here’s an inside look at how I’ve been planning for the upcoming winter season as an entrepreneur who struggles with seasonal affective disorder.

How To Prepare For Shorter, Darker & Colder Months As An Entrepreneur Who Struggles With Seasonal Depression

Invest in your mental health’s secret weapon

My secret weapon for saving sunlight and creating energy during the winter months is this seasonal depression lamp. This lamp even gets busted out in the summer if there’s a series of rainy days because it works that well. 

The lamp puts off so much light that it feels like a bright sunny afternoon in your room, even with absolutely no lights on and the blinds closed. It’s insane and magical and quite honestly the best purchase I’ve ever made. 

If you want the exact same seasonal depression lamp as I have, click here to buy it on Amazon. There are a ton of different lighting options available, so do your research and see which light setup works best for you. 

Learn how to batch your content and schedule in advance

As I mentioned earlier, my energy levels are depleted in the winter which I’m sure you can relate to if you’re reading this. As all the energy I’m able to muster goes directly toward helping my clients, there’s minimal energy left in reserve for creating new content during this time. 

Batching content and pre-scheduling content months in advance is the only way to succeed at brand upkeep during the winter.

As I’m writing this post, I have over ten weeks of content planned out. All I need is one or two days to sit down and write the content, organize the graphics, and schedule the final pieces. 

In a total of three days (Day 1: Planning, Day 2: Writing, Day 3: Scheduling) I’m able to complete ten weeks which is a little over three months’ worth of blog content. 

If you want to replicate this process, I recommend checking out this free resource all about content planning.

Give yourself another day to source and pull information from these blog posts for your social media or email newsletter and you’re essentially three months ahead of schedule in just four days. 

We may be a little busy, but sacrificing two weekends to keep our business survive the winter is not asking too much. You can utilize resources like templates and guides to streamline your content creation process too.

Give yourself some grace

We are so hard on ourselves as entrepreneurs. But let’s be real…we’re just humans doing the best we can to figure out this thing called life.

Depression, whether it’s seasonal or ongoing is not a flaw or fault in your design. Mental illness doesn’t define who you are and what you’re capable of. If anything it makes you a more resilient human being. You’re able to tackle problems and see things differently than others who aren’t affected by the changing seasons or other triggers in life. 

I personally love hearing how people with mental illness continue to succeed in business. It’s very admirable and inspiring to know that if they can do it, so can I. That’s how I want you to feel about your situation too. 

Plus, 49% of entrepreneurs are living with mental illness. So this struggle isn’t unique to you. We’re basically all battling some sort of inner turmoil. 

Find an accountability partner

My friend, you really don’t have to go through life alone. 

Whether you need an accountability partner to keep you focused on your goals during the times when life gets a little tough, or you keep an accountability partner all year long, there’s no wrong answer. 

Find a business bestie or someone you can count on to keep you on track and stay accountable for certain aspects of your business. 

Ideally, this person will also be a small business owner or an entrepreneur so you can both fire each other up when the other person needs a little extra support in their business.

Outsource as much as possible

As an entrepreneur, especially when you’re first getting started, you have the sense that you have to do everything in your business. 

Take a step back and realize that one person can not possibly handle all the tasks involved in keeping a business running successfully. Plus, if you’re trying to do this right now, I know you’re not giving 100% effort into each task. 

I know there are things in your business that you’re not the best at. No matter who you are, you should never be trying to do it all. 

You can stay scrappy and try to learn every aspect of your business while getting overworked and overwhelmed when you can’t figure something out. Or you can be a true entrepreneur and start hiring people for the tasks they’re the most qualified to do. 

Outsource the parts of your business that leave you drained and feeling defeated. 

This goes for any time of the year, during any season of your life. You don’t have to do it all!

No matter the size of your budget, there is always someone you can delegate a task to on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. Plus, if you need marketing assistance, you already know where to find me! 😉

Downsize your client load

Try to downsize your client load when you need more time to take care of your mental health. While this may sound more stressful if you’re worried about finances, hear me out. 

If you’re currently trading time for money and working one to one with people, try to alter your services. Whether you offer group sessions, digital products, or online courses, there are always different ways to provide value without physically showing up for that client.

Passive income products are a great source of additional cash flow throughout the year. But if you know you’ll be out of commission and focusing on taking care of your mental health, you can create something like a high-ticket online course or group coaching program. 

Create the content for this program ahead of time so all you’re physically required to do during the winter months is show up as digital support for your clients.

Your clients still receive top-notch content and guidance from you, but you’re not physically required to be there. It’s a win-win!

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There are a dozen other hacks you can implement into your life to make your business run a bit smoother during the winter months if you’re an entrepreneur living with seasonal depression. 

However, I hope these tips provided you with a headstart into making the darker, colder months a bit more bearable. 

If you have any questions or need 1:1 advice on which strategies you should be implementing to prepare for the winter, shoot me an email, and let’s chat. 

And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram! I’m always sharing advice on how to grow your business online while keeping your mental health a top priority.