Overcoming Overwhelm – Even In December

December has a way of amplifying everything doesn't it? It can be a challenging time in the Southern Hemisphere with frantic year-end energy colliding with summer holiday energy, and in the Northern Hemisphere you have Thanksgiving energy marking the start of the Holiday Season.

So, if you’re finding yourself feeling stretched, foggy, emotional, distracted, or just done, you’re absolutely not alone. While the good moments do feel uplifting, the fatigue can feel heavier, and I'm sure the to-do list seems to multiply overnight.

I was on a coaching call earlier this week where a client said, “I’m not procrastinating because the things on my list are hard… I’m procrastinating because my brain shuts down when I look at them.” And honestly, I felt that. And December, in particular, can do that to the best of us.

Everything happens all at once:

⏳You’re trying to wrap up client work as clients want everything “sorted before Xmas.”

⏳ You’re planning for holidays

⏳ You may be trying to figure out how you’ll juggle the kids at home for weeks at a time

⏳ Some clients are heading into their busiest season and need more support than usual.

⏳ And then there’s the personal stuff – gifts, food, events, family expectations, and trying to keep the house semi-functional.

It is… a lot, and your nervous system feels all of it.

Overwhelm just means that you're carrying more than a human brain was designed to hold. 

And when your brain hits that point, procrastination sneaks in.

It’s not because you lack discipline, or because you’re lazy, or because you're “bad at time management.”

Overwhelm triggers procrastination because your brain goes into a protective mode.

When everything feels urgent, your mind can’t decide what to do first, so it chooses nothing. It’s the mental equivalent of a circuit breaker.

It's also why December is the perfect storm for overwhelm.

During the rest of the year, you might be busy, but the busyness is usually predictable. December, on the other hand, carries a very particular flavour of pressure:

1. Competing priorities everywhere

You're juggling the usual client work + all the “before Christmas” deadlines + family commitments + school holidays + personal life admin. Something always feels like it is slipping.

2. Client expectations spike hard

The phrase “Can we get this done before Christmas?” sounds like a chorus. 

Even when you know that some things could wait until next year, you almost feel bad about pushing them out that far.

3. Your own needs drop to the bottom of the list

You tell yourself you’ll take care of yourself after the rush. But the rush keeps rushing, and the stress and overwhelm compounds.

4. The emotional load increases

December carries pressure in the air: financial worries, family dynamics, expectations, end-of-year reflection – it all adds layers to the cognitive load you’re already carrying.

5. Your energy tank is low

By December, most business owners are simply tired. Not a little tired, but deeply tired. And tiredness magnifies overwhelm.

6. Your routines get disrupted

The kids seem to have soooo many extra activities and events on. Your clients are slowing down or speeding up. And you might be the one taking care of your own holiday prep… No wonder everything feels slightly chaotic!

When you combine all of these factors, of course the brain starts shutting down. It’s trying to keep you safe by reducing the number of decisions you need to make. This is why overwhelm and procrastination walk hand-in-hand.

What overwhelm really means

Overwhelm is almost never about capability, intelligence, competence, or effort. It is usually about capacity.

And for bookkeepers in particular, overwhelm often comes from:

• Trying to carry the entire workload alone
• Feeling responsible for everyone and everything
• Not wanting to disappoint clients
• Undercharging (so you need more clients than is healthy)
• Over-delivering because you care
• Not having boundaries around communication
• Taking on too much because you're good at so many things
• Not delegating or trusting others to help
• Not giving your own business the same attention you give your clients’ businesses.

This is not a criticism; this is compassion.

These patterns are so common in bookkeepers, especially the good ones. And when you combine those patterns with December chaos, procrastination becomes almost inevitable.

How to move forward when your brain feels overloaded

Here are a few things I teach clients and practice myself: these techniques work well at any time of year, but are particularly pertinent to the December rush.

1. Shrink the timeframe

Part of what makes December so overwhelming is the feeling that the whole month needs to be organised right now; work deadlines, holiday plans, kids finishing school, everything. It's no wonder your mind freezes when it tries to hold all of that at once. So I suggest that you pull the focus back and just look at today.

Ask yourself: “What would make today feel lighter?”

This technique works well, because breaking things down into smaller pieces is much kinder on your brain, especially at this time of year.

2. Do a brain-dump

One of the quickest ways to ease overwhelm is to get everything out of your head and onto paper (or your digital notebook). Not just the work tasks, but the personal stuff too - the kids’ events, the Christmas planning, the errands, the conversations you still need to have – all of it. You’re not trying to create the perfect list, but simply lightening the mental load. Once it’s written down, it stops swirling, and the fog can start to lift.

3. Separate ‘before Christmas’ tasks from ‘can wait until January’ tasks

Once everything is visible, it becomes much easier to see that not everything needs to be squeezed into the next three weeks. Many bookkeepers assume clients need things urgently because that is the December vibe, but often they are just asking out of habit. It's completely okay to say that you won't be able to do that until mid-January. You will be surprised at how many people are happily OK with that.

4. Focus on the next step only

When your brain feels overloaded, even simple tasks can turn into an intimidating blur. Breaking things down into tiny, specific actions helps bring the pressure down. Instead of thinking about the whole workflow or the entire project, ask yourself what the very next step is – the smallest, most doable action. Giving your mind one clear direction is often all it needs to get moving again.

5. Lower the pressure on your personal expectations

December brings its own set of expectations, and many of them are unrealistic. You don't need a perfect Christmas, perfect meals, or perfectly planned holidays to have a meaningful break. Your family will remember how the summer felt, not whether everything looked flawless. And your clients value consistency and communication far more than you sacrificing your wellbeing. Let this be the year you ease the pressure instead of adding to it.

6. Protect your energy, not just your time

By the time December rolls around, most business owners are operating on a lower tank than they realise. Productivity isn't just about scheduling time, it’s about honouring your capacity. If your body is asking for rest, it’s not being inconvenient; it’s telling you the truth. Allow yourself to take breaks where you can. A rested brain makes better decisions than a pushed one.

7. Ask for help

December is not the time to shoulder everything alone. If you have team members, let them take ownership of a few tasks. If family or friends can handle something at home, let them. If there is tech that can automate a chunk of your workflow, switch it on. Delegation is never a sign of weakness – it’s a smart and strategic way to get through the busiest month of the year with your sanity intact.

A real example that might feel familiar

I was talking with a bookkeeper recently who had been putting off a bookkeeping catch-up job for over two weeks. It was not a difficult job, just one of those slightly messy, slightly time-consuming jobs that require a clear head and a bit of focus. Every day she moved it to the next day’s list, and every day it seemed to get heavier.

When we unpacked it, she said something that might sound familiar to you: “It’s not the work itself – it’s everything else that’s sitting in my brain.” And when we talked it through, it all made perfect sense. She was juggling school events, Christmas shopping she hadn't started yet, a handful of clients wanting things wrapped up before they closed for the summer, plus her own year-end tasks she kept meaning to get to. 

None of those things were huge individually, but together they created a mental weight that made even a simple catch-up feel like climbing a hill.

Once she finally wrote everything down – all the work tasks, all the personal tasks, all the “don’t forget to dos” swirling in the background – the catch-up itself didn't even take that long. It was never about the work. It was about the load behind it.

If that resonates, please remember that overwhelm is simply a sign that your capacity is stretched thin, especially in a month like December when work and life both demand more from you. When the load is heavy, even small tasks feel bigger than they are. That just means you're human.

Overwhelm is not a reflection of your capability; it’s a reflection of your capacity. 

And capacity is something you can support.

I’d love to hear from you. How has overwhelm been showing up for you, and what small shift would help you feel more in control?

You’ve got this.

Stephanie Crawford