Weekender #221

🧠 Twelve essential soft skills that every professional should master.

💼 The top financial wellness tools designed for modern teams and real-life money stress.

📓 The first wave of 2026 planners is here, and they’re already selling fast.

💬 Why empathy has limits and what healthy compassion actually looks like.

It hits right around January 3rd.

The tree is drooping, the fridge is full of half-eaten leftovers, and the kids (mine are 10 and 12) are wandering the house in that strange post-holiday haze. I’m back at my desk, trying to shift from “holiday host mode” to “calendar, Slack, and spreadsheet” mode. And even though I should feel refreshed, I mostly feel… flat.

No one really talks about this part. The weird, silent emotional hangover that lingers after the wrapping paper’s gone.

The holidays are a full production, especially when you’re a mom. You spend weeks thinking about everyone else: their gifts, their meals, their joy. And then, in a blink, it’s over. There’s no soft landing. Just the whiplash of real life rushing back in. And somehow, you’re supposed to start the year energized, focused, and goal-oriented while your nervous system is still catching its breath.

For those of us who work from home, the transition can feel even blurrier. No office buzz to ease into. No commute to reset your head. Just the same house, same chair, new pressures.

It’s tempting to brush it off. To say it’s just the weather. Or that everyone feels off in January. But I’ve started calling it what it is: an emotional comedown. One that deserves care, not more caffeine.

So if you’re feeling foggy, unmotivated, or oddly sad after the holidays, it makes total sense. You’re coming down from weeks of high output and invisible labor. The joy was real. The stress was real. And the crash? Also real.

Here’s what’s helping me:

• Naming it. Calling it what it is helps me stop blaming myself for not bouncing back faster.
• Lowering the bar. I don’t need to hit the ground running. I just need to land gently.
• Adding small anchors. A walk after lunch. Music in the background. One thing on the to-do list that’s actually for me.
• Choosing rest over resets. The pressure to reinvent everything in January can wait. Not this week.

If you’re feeling it too—the flatness, the fatigue, the weird January quiet—be gentle to yourself.

The holidays are a lot. And so is coming back from them.

Kristel (TA Marketing)

January comes with fresh goals, high expectations, and a calendar that fills up fast. That Sunday night tension? It’s often a sign that your priorities feel scattered and the week ahead looks fuzzy.

That’s why we rely on monday.com, especially at the start of a new quarter. It gives us one clear view of what’s happening, what’s urgent, and what’s on deck. No digging through email threads. No second-guessing the plan.

We put together a quick-start guide with the exact setup we use to stay organized, communicate clearly, and actually feel ready for the week ahead.

Start your January game plan here.

📚 Read: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Set in Nazi-occupied France, this powerful novel follows two sisters taking radically different paths of resistance during World War II. It’s an emotional, gripping look at courage, sacrifice, and the quiet strength women summon when everything is on the line.

📺 Watch: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix

The Knives Out universe returns with another sharp, twist-filled mystery led by Benoit Blanc. Expect layered suspects, biting humor, and a plot that keeps you guessing until the final reveal.

🎧 Listen: Man I Need by Olivia Dean

Warm, soulful, and quietly confident, this song captures what it feels like to finally know what you deserve in love. Smooth without putting you to sleep, reflective without weighing you down.

Keeping your finances straight shouldn’t require 15 spreadsheets, 10 browser tabs, and a panic attack every time tax season rolls around. But when your systems are all over the place, small mistakes turn into big headaches.

Xero and Zoho take the guesswork out of accounting, whether you’re a solo operator or running a small team.

Here’s why we like them:

Xero: Clean, intuitive dashboards that show your cash flow, expenses, and invoices at a glance. It’s especially great for syncing with banks and managing recurring transactions without the clutter.

Zoho: Ideal if you already use Zoho’s ecosystem. It connects accounting with your CRM, inventory, and even project management, so your numbers actually talk to each other.

Both let you automate the boring stuff, track expenses in real time, and generate reports that make sense without an accounting degree.

You’ve got enough on your plate. Your accounting system shouldn’t add to it.

 Upcoming Events

• Thurs 1/15 @ 9AM PT: How to Set (and Achieve) Quarterly Goals with Clarity and Confidence
• Thurs 1/22 @ 10AM PT: Invisible to Irreplaceable: Personal Branding for Women Leaders (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)
• Fri 1/23 @ 10 AM PT: Idea to Automation — Turning Concepts into Workflows (SGS Only* | Join the waitlist)

* Smart Girl Society is our private community for women who want deeper conversations, accountability, and tools that actually make life easier. Join the waitlist to get in the next round.

🐶 Pet of the Week: Meet Lucky Loo

Lucky Loo is the queen of the household, a title she earned with her sass and quirks since 2020. While the other two cats think they’re slick, she patiently waits them out for food like a feline chess master. Lucky insists on having her owners in her orbit, making it clear who’s really in charge.

Her diva habits include paw-scooped sink water only, monopolizing weighted blankets, and sprawling like a rug whenever her owners enter the room. She’s not a fan of strangers, loud noises, or her new automatic litter box, but they’re holding out hope for that last one!

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