72. 10 Weeks Left in Q4 to Focus

Happy Hallo-Christma-giving.

Once Halloween hits, the next 10 weeks go by in a blur. October turns into Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving turns into Christmas, and somewhere in there you blink and it’s 2027.

This is my favorite stretch of the year. Three birthdays in my house, crunchy leaves, candles, pumpkin everything, Hallmark movies, and December as a person of faith. Every year I go in determined to soak it up, and every year it passes in a flash. By January I’m asking where it went.

So this is preventative work. Let’s decide how these 10 weeks will go before they decide for us.

What you’re up against

Q4 is loud, and the noise comes from every direction:

• Your calendar: school events, holiday parties, family gatherings, travel.

• Your business: wrapping up the year, tax numbers, and planning for next year while you finish this one.

• Other business owners: launches, promotions, and the comparison that comes with them.

• Your inner consumer: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and everyone’s wish list.

• The season itself: a cultural permission slip to overcommit our calendars, our brains, and our checking accounts.

The result is decision fatigue, because everything feels urgent and important at the same time.

Put your blinders on

I’m from Kentucky, so I will always find a way to bring in a horse. Racehorses wear blinders so they aren’t distracted by what Secretariat or Mr. Ed is doing in the next lane. Their job is to run their own race.

Blinders aren’t a limitation. They’re how you stay in your lane when the noise doesn’t let up. Here is the framework I use with clients in strategy sessions to decide what goes inside yours.

The Q4 focus framework

1. What is most important?
Treat these 10 weeks as a runway to 2027. If you accomplish one major thing before January 1, what should it be? One project, goal, or theme. Not three, and not five. Choose the one that positions you to start next year where you want to be. This takes a vision for 2027, so give it some thought. Pick what is most important, not what is most urgent or what has been sitting on your back burner.

2. What are the obstacles?
Name everything that will make this harder, including the personal and family items. Holiday travel, school breaks, the mental load of gift shopping, business trips. Deep work needs a real chunk of time, not 30 minutes between emails. Once you’ve named the obstacles, plan around them. Schedule work blocks, book a co-working session, or reserve a room at the library if your house will be full of people.

3. Brainstorm ways to hit the goal.
A new offer, hired support, a new back-end system. Get every idea out, the conventional ones and the creative ones. This is the fun part. A walk, a puzzle, or an hour with a friend who loves brainstorming will shake loose ideas your computer screen won’t.

4. Filter the ideas through you.
Most people filter by “will this work?” and stop there. Also filter by your values, your preferences, and your calendar. A 30-day social media blitz is a fine idea if you enjoy social media. If you despise it, you’ll need a different idea or a helper. Ask which ideas fit the person you are in this season. Aim for one to three ideas, because everything takes longer than we think.

5. Identify your first baby step.
The blank screen causes paralysis. Make the first step small: schedule the meeting, or brain dump into AI and ask it to help you write the first email. A bad first step still gets you moving, and you can improve it from there.

6. Build in accountability.
A business buddy, a community you check in with, a public post about your goal. The last 10 weeks of the year are very easy to drift through. Don’t do this alone.

Turn down the noise

Choosing a goal is half of it. You also have to protect it.

• Limit new content. If it doesn’t serve your goal, pause it. That unrelated podcast will still be there on January 1.

• Limit voices. Pick one expert in the area you’re working on. Four people shouting clues at me in a game of Heads Up leaves me unable to guess anything, and more voices in your business do the same thing.

• Block your time. Protect your work blocks the way you’d protect your child’s doctor appointment. How you spend your time is how you spend your life.

• Block the literal noise. Put the phone out of reach, close your email, and skip the chore that catches your eye. If your house is too loud, leave it.

• Say no faster. Lead with no, then decide if you want to change your answer. “I’m working toward something important and need to protect my time, but I’d love to do it in another season” is a complete answer.

Do not work for 10 straight weeks

I’m talking to the other type A pushers here, because I’m one of you. It is tempting to push until Christmas Eve, take a couple of days off, and feel the tug back to work the whole time.

You can’t enjoy this season if you never step away from your business, physically or mentally. A friend told me something I keep coming back to: I am not BeWeird Marketing, and you are not your business. It’s one way we add value to the world, and it isn’t who we are.

So plan your time off now, the same way you plan your work time. Be 100% on when you’re on and 100% off when you’re off. Carve the jack-o’-lanterns, do the puzzle, go see the living Christmas tree, and be all there.

The goal is to reach January having accomplished something important and having lived this season. It’s both/and: work hard, rest hard, play hard.

The short version

Blinders on. One goal. Name your obstacles, identify your first step, and go. Then take intentional time off so you remember this season in the middle of winter.

If you’re a service-based business owner wondering what to do about Black Friday, episode 45 of the podcast will help you decide. And if you’d like help choosing your Q4 focus, book a consult call at beweirdmarketing.com.

Listen to the full episode at beweirdmarketingpodcast.com.