How to Handle The Holidays

The holiday season is always busy. This year, add on the spike of the “tripledemic,” and hospitals are set to have a hectic few weeks. Here are a few tips to support your team during the most wonderful time of the year. 

Patience 

This time of the year can feel like a snowball, rapidly accelerating and picking up everything in its path. It can be easy to get swept up in the waves. Even though there is a lot to do, take a deep breath and have patience. Look ahead at your team’s calendars and be open to flexibility to accommodate time off. 

Prioritization 

If your team’s to-do list is starting to look like a CVS receipt, it’s time to start prioritizing. It’s possible that some things might need to be pushed to the new year, and that’s okay. Identify the things that absolutely need to get done before your team disperses for holiday vacations and delegate tasks accordingly. Establish some flex tasks that would be nice to complete but aren’t essential to your end-of-year goals. Determine which tasks can wait until January, and communicate these priorities with your team so everyone is aligned, even when your team’s time-off schedules don’t align.  

Automation 

Wherever possible, lean on automation to make your life easier and keep the ball rolling even when team members are on PTO. From social posts to newsletters to blogs, schedule content to post ahead of time. Consider pausing content marketing on actual holidays due to saturation. 

Content

That being said, this season is still a very active time for your audience on platforms like Doximity. If you’re in need of some last-minute ideas to bolster your content calendar, consider the following topics which are popular on Doximity this time of year. 

• Mental health and wellness
• Virus response developments (universal flu vaccines, COVID boosters, mask policy, etc.)
• Clinician burnout, including how the industry is responding

We hope these tips help you handle the upcoming holiday season and we hope that your end-of-year strategies include some well-deserved time off.