Now, I get the point of it. The breaks are built into the calendar to let international players head home and play for their national teams in friendly matches and tournaments. But I can’t help thinking it must be super disruptive. Imagine you start off the quarter in your business, get the whole team rolling, processes under way, sales targets in focus, then a month in you have to send everyone home for two weeks. It’d definitely mess up your flow. 

But international breaks are just an accepted part of the football world. I guess just like we accept disruptions in all our industries too. Here in the UK, Christmas is a massive disruption. People save their money, stop going out so much, start spending more on gifts and less on everything else. Staff book holidays, and as the big day gets closer, focus reduces and productivity slowly grinds to a halt. What’s even worse is that every year the season seems to creep earlier and earlier – our local supermarket has had Christmas stuff on the shelves for weeks already! 

In other parts of the world, other big events disrupt business too. In China there’s Golden Week and Lunar New Year. In the Middle East, Ramadan and Eid. In parts of Europe, the “Grand Depart” shuts down whole industries for the entirety of August. 

As business owners, we can’t fight it. These disruptions are part of the culture you live in, but I think my question is, should you even try or should you just embrace it? I’ve spoken many times about the importance of taking breaks from your business and the hugely positive impact that just stepping away for a few days can have. These holidays, events and forced disruptions are the perfect time to take a break with no one expecting you to be there. Here at Christmas, it’s perfectly acceptable to close the office, switch your emails off and not reply to anyone until the New Year celebrations are over. Same at Easter, most take a 4-day break over the Bank Holiday weekend, and no one complains. 

So, I think I’d say don’t fight the disruptions, build them into your business calendar, just like the football teams do. Plan for your downtimes and embrace them. You might just find that you and your team come back more refreshed and productive afterwards. 

What about your country? Are there any big events or seasons that cause massive commerce disruptions? How do you handle them in your business? 

I’d love to hear about it.