Busy periods happen in almost every business.
Christmas rushes.
Big launches.
Events.
Client deadlines.
Unexpected opportunities.
The problem?
Life does not pause while work gets busy.
And when you live with disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence or fluctuating energy levels, those busy periods can hit very differently.
In this episode of 3Spoonies, we talk about preparing for the peaks — the planned and unplanned periods where work suddenly ramps up and how we try (sometimes successfully!) to survive them.
What Does “Preparing for the Peaks” Mean?
For some businesses, busy seasons are predictable.
Karen talks about her jewellery business where Christmas craft fairs created months of intense work, stock building and preparation.
Claire reflects on seasonal spikes in personalised gifts around events like Halloween and Christmas.
Jo shares the service-business version:
The rush before holidays.
Year-end projects.
Clients wanting everything finished before everyone disappears for two weeks.
Sometimes the peaks are expected.
Sometimes they arrive completely out of nowhere.
And sometimes you plan beautifully…
Only for the workload to keep growing anyway.
Busy Seasons and Chronic Illness Don’t Always Mix
One of the biggest challenges discussed in the episode is that disabled and chronically ill business owners often have to manage more than workload.
We are also managing:
- energy levels
- symptoms
- recovery time
- brain fog
- appointments
- medication
- heat sensitivity
- ADHD and executive function challenges
- unexpected flares
A busy period does not remove those things.
If anything, it often makes them louder.
The episode explores the reality that planning workload means planning capacity too.
Recovery Time Is Part of the Plan
A major theme throughout the discussion is something many business owners struggle with:
Recovery.
Jo talks about deliberately scheduling quiet time before and after known busy periods.
Not because it feels productive.
Because it prevents bigger crashes later.
Karen shares how she now intentionally adds:
- fun activities
- rest
- self-care
- breathing space
during intense periods.
Claire discusses learning — sometimes the hard way — that working longer is not always working better.
Recovery is not a reward.
It is part of the workload.
Systems That Help During Busy Periods
The conversation also looks at practical ways to survive the peaks.
Some strategies include:
Breaking projects into smaller tasks
Big projects can feel overwhelming.
Turning:
“Complete client project”
into:
- edit video
- create clips
- upload assets
- schedule content
- review edits
makes progress feel far more achievable.
Scheduling and batching
Claire talks about using scheduling tools to manage content around events.
Jo discusses planning quieter days and protecting space in the calendar.
Small systems reduce mental load.
Capturing ideas immediately
Notebooks.
WhatsApp notes.
Lists.
Voice memos.
Anything that stops ideas endlessly cycling around your head.
Future-you will thank present-you.
Outsourcing and support
The episode also explores the difficult but important topic of asking for help.
Outsourcing.
Delegating.
Building a team.
Creating resources in advance.
Doing everything yourself may work for a while.
Long term?
Probably not.
The Guilt Around Rest
One of the hardest parts of working for yourself is quiet periods.
Because rest often arrives with guilt.
Questions like:
Should I be working?
Should I be finding more clients?
Am I allowed to stop?
come up repeatedly.
The answer from the episode?
Yes.
You are allowed to rest.
Especially if resting now stops burnout later.
Taking a break is not laziness.
It is maintenance.
Learning to Say No
The episode also explores how difficult it can be to refuse opportunities.
Especially when work arrives in waves.
Quiet month.
Busy month.
Panic.
Say yes to everything.
Sound familiar?
The challenge is protecting future capacity while still paying today’s bills.
And that balance is hard.
Sometimes “no” becomes:
Not now.
Later.
This person may help instead.
Or:
I can do part of it, but not all of it.
Boundaries are still progress.
Final Thoughts
Preparing for the peaks is not just productivity.
It is energy management.
Recovery.
Planning.
Self-awareness.
And occasionally accepting that today is not the day.
The work will still be there tomorrow.
You might not be if you push too hard.
And that matters.
Listen to the Episode
Search for “3Spoonies Episode 63 – Preparing for the Peaks” on YouTube or your favourite podcast platform, or click here to find the main ones.