December Zero - My Year-End Business Decluttering Exercise

As much as I love my work, I don’t like how it can bleed into the rest of my life, especially during the holidays.

Those of us who are self-employed don’t have the luxury of clocking out, literally or metaphorically, so I’ve had to create several practices and rituals to create the same effect. One of them I call “December Zero,” and I’ve outlined the steps below.

I admit that December Zero is a misnomer. Any entrepreneur’s work, freelancers included, never reaches zero.

However, I find that I’m less preoccupied with my various business pursuits, more present with my family and friends, and more open to the bright memories and possibilities of the season if I park my posterior in a chair for thirty minutes and demarcate a clear, unambiguous stopping point for the calendar year.

I think of December Zero as a bright red pin on a map. The pin lets me know when I have arrived at my destination. By that I mean the end of the attention and effort that my business will receive from me. I can turn off the car, so to speak; push my chair back from my desk.

December Zero gives me permission.

Now, if I’m honest, the ideas don’t stop coming in late December. Like I said, I love my work, and after one or two days of being “out of office,” they start falling unlike the snow that never does on Christmas Day in Tennessee.

If I decide to bat around an idea in a suspiciously work-like way, what’s wrong with that?

The point is that I’ve already given myself permission to not adhere to a to-do list or be productive.

I’m actually spending the freedom freelancing affords instead of just talking about how glad I am to have it. For two weeks at least, my time belongs to me, not my clients, and they and the business can look after themselves.

In that respect December Zero is both destination and permission.

December Zero quiets my mind.

The last thing I’ll say before we get into the meat of the exercise is that December Zero contributes to what I’ll call a quiet mind.

I’ve struggled with anxiety for most of my adult life, and though I had a breakthrough with anxiety in 2019, a part of my mind still sometimes bubbles and burps like a cauldron.

You’ll be shocked to know I’m not the best company when I’m feeling anxious, especially when I haven’t yet acknowledged that anxiety is what I’m feeling.

When I turn toward my anxiety and approach it with curiosity and questions, it quiets down. What am I worried about? What is it I think may go wrong? For me to ask those questions is like dipping a ladle in the cauldron, giving it a taste, and finding that it’s not so powerful or dangerous. It’s closer to punch than poison.

The December Zero practice offers a recovering worrywart like me the destination, permission, and quietude that I want going in to the second half of December.

Now, on to the practice itself.

How to Take Yourself through December Zero

The purpose of December Zero is to take inventory of open projects and commitments and plan a two-week sprint for the first half of the month so that you can go into the second half feeling freed up, focused, and fulfilled.

The exercise takes an hour (or less) and moves through three distinct phases: 1) gather, 2) decide, and 3) plan. Your goal is to create a two-week sprint comprised of well-defined tasks. A task I define as a piece of work you can finish in one sitting, about sixty to ninety minutes.

Here are the two steps for Phase 1 (Gather):

1. Write down your answers to the questions below. Note: Set a timer for 5 minutes.

• “What must be true for me to end the year well?”
• “What do I need to accomplish over the next 2-3 weeks to have momentum going into the new year?”
• “What’s essential? What’s more of a bonus?”
• “What’s the one thing I can do that will make everything else easier or unnecessary?”

2. Write down everything you can think of the four categories below. Timer: 10 minutes.

• Open client projects. Example: ghostwriting project for a power tool brand.
• Internal and business development projects. Example: client case study that’s 70% finished.
• Ongoing business needs. Example: Giving my bookkeeper a deadline for finishing the LLC’s books.
• Miscellaneous / Heartburn. Example: Finishing the mulch bed in the backyard.
  • For Heartburn, ask yourself, “What’s bothering me? What’s bubbling the cauldron? Is there anything I need to do simply to be done with it?”
    • Heartburn Example: Write my rate increase email on December 1 so that I can edit and send it on December 2.

Here is the one step for Phase 2 (Decide):

3. Review your list and make a decision about every item. Will you Do, Delegate, Defer, or Delete it? Timer: 10 minutes.

• For example: I think it’s possible and preferable to finish the ghostwriting project, send the final invoice, and close out the project by mid-December. Therefore, that project gets a Do.

Here is the step for Phase 3 (Plan):

4. Process the projects, commitments, and tasks with Defer or Delete next to them. 10 minutes total.

• For the Delete group, do whatever you must to jettison them from your mind. Move the tasks cards to the Archive in your project management app. Stop carrying them forward in your planner. Like your worst high school ex, change their name to “CRAZY!!! DO NOT ANSWER” in your phone. Timer: 5 minutes.
  • For example: I’m ready to ignore and forget my “great” marketing ideas from earlier in 2025.
• For the Defer group, do whatever you must to bring them back to mind in January. Create cards for them in your project management app. Put them in an email and schedule it to reappear on January 2. Timer: 5 minutes.
  • For example: Finishing the mulch bed in the backyard can wait until the New Year.

5. Make a plan for the projects, commitments, and tasks with Do and Delegate next to them. Timer: 30 minutes.

• Going item by item, ask yourself, “What would I like to be true here before the end of the year? What is the next step here? And what’s the next step after that?”
• Make a guess about the time required for each step or task. Remember that ambiguity is the enemy here. If you can’t accomplish a “task” in ninety minutes or less, break it up into smaller pieces.
• Give each task a due date.
• Organize the tasks and due dates into a schedule.
  • Example Task: Email ghostwriting client and explain that I need feedback by Friday, December 5, in order to finalize the copywriting by Friday, December 12. Otherwise, I’ll need to push the go-live date to mid-January.
  • Due Date: Today

If you’d like to copy and use the GSheet template I give to my 1-on-1 coaching clients and members of the Freelance Cake Community, then drop in your name and email address below.

Now you have time for your awkward uncle.

That’s pretty much it. I hope you weren’t expecting a barefoot walk across Legos and rusty nails.

December Zero declutters your business. It gives you a structured way to identify what’s nagging you, tie up loose ends, and quiet your mind so that you can enjoy the holidays. Whether or not you use your liberated mindspace to help your awkward uncle troubleshoot his dating app is up to you.

If you like the idea of December Zero and see how it could help you end the year on a high note, then I invite you to join me for a 45-minute workshop.

Thanks to my friends at Lettuce, who agreed to sponsor this workshop and the next one (2026 Year in Preview), you can attend both for $33, not $79.

Get all the details about the workshops and use code LETTUCE here. →

When you’re ready, here are ways I can help you:

1. Free Money. A pricing and money mindset guide for freelance creatives. If you’re unsure about your freelance pricing, this is the book for you.
2. Morning Marketing Habit. This course will help you build an “always be marketing” practice, become less dependent on referrals, and proactively build the business you want with the clients you want. My own morning marketing habit has enabled me to consistently make 6 figures as a freelancer.
3. 1:1 Coaching. Gain clarity, confidence, and momentum in your freelance or consulting business.
4. Freelance Cake Community. Build the business you really want with people who really get it.
5. Clarity Session. It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle. I've done well over 100 of these 1:1 sessions with founders, solopreneurs, and freelancers who wanted guidance, a second opinion, or help creating a plan.