During the last months of the year, we all look forward to a few days away from work to observe various holidays and spend time with loved ones. It’s a time for travel, shopping, gift-giving, social gatherings, and remembering the less fortunate.
But it takes creative coordination and compromise to ensure that when employees are away from the office for the holidays, the workload transitions seamlessly, and certain tasks are still accomplished while much of the workforce is away. Communication is essential – from building maintenance to the reception desk to the C-suite.
Please Join Us!
What: #MTtalk
Where: Twitter
When: November 18 @ 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. GMT / 11:30 p.m. IST)
Topic: Planning Your Pause – Holiday Highs and Lows
Host: @Mind_Tools
Pause for the Cause
A pause is a safe zone between “GO!” and “STOP!” – a temporary place, not a final destination. “Pressing pause” in our lives is a personal acknowledgment that we should slow down our usual pace to contemplate, evaluate, and rejuvenate our mind (and body).
Companies hold holiday receptions and parties to take a moment to recognize, celebrate, and thank their employees for their service, commitment, and time throughout the year. It gives everyone a chance to socialize away from their teams and network with colleagues whom they rarely have time to see face-to-face. Some departments also have gift exchanges and potluck meals where everyone contributes food and beverages.
“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.”
Louisa May Alcott
Creating Holiday Happiness
As the holiday season approaches, there are opportunities to create happy memories. Here are some of the typical highlights of the season – both at home and in the workplace.
Holiday highs at work:
- Learning the positive outcomes of corporate outreach.
- Supporting the annual corporate giving drive.
- Receiving bonuses, incentives, and awards.
Holiday highs at home:
- Connecting with loved ones.
- Sharing and teaching traditions.
- Serving the less fortunate.
- Enjoying seasonal foods and beverages and other traditions.
Bracing For Inevitable Holiday Lows
Despite the positives, some of us dread the holiday season. The anticipation, the peer pressure, trying to keep up with others – all this can cause anxiety, stress and worry. Here are some typical lows of the season.
Holiday lows at work:
- Heavier workloads because team members are out sick or using vacation time.
- Pressure to reach sales goals or department targets.
- Unable to delegate outstanding tasks because there has been no cross-team training.
Holiday lows at home:
- Loneliness.
- Overspending.
- Visiting family you don’t really want to see.
- Facing long journeys and heavy traffic.
- Feeling obligated to stretch yourself thin.
Managing the Flow
When we identify the areas that bog us down, finding solutions and minimizing the inevitable lows of the holidays becomes easier.
For holidays at home, remember that “NO” is a complete sentence. Don’t feel trapped by circumstance. If there are events you must attend, understand the space and plan your exit strategy.
If money is tight, create gift and event budgets – identify savings opportunities, be disciplined, and monitor spending. Remember, you don’t always have to purchase gifts! You can create a memorable experience instead (plan an outing, family craft or game night, cook a family recipe, visit museums and monuments in your area that you take for granted, etc.).
And at work, a little planning goes a long way – get ahead of the curve by scheduling in advance the work that needs completing over a holiday season, so that you can mitigate and add capacity where needed. And don’t be afraid to delegate and allow others to help.
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
Maya Angelou
Planning Your Pause – Holiday Highs and Lows
In our upcoming #MTtalk twitter chat we’re going to talk about planning your pause and managing the inevitable holiday highs and lows. Come and join this safe discussion space to share your thoughts and experiences!
In our Twitter poll this week, we wanted to know what you think is most important to keep in mind when planning for the holiday season. “Managing family dynamics” recieved 18 percent of the vote, while 50 percent voted for “not over-planning.”
We’d love you to participate in the chat, and the following questions may spark some thoughts in preparation for it:
- It’s tradition to pause work during the holidays, but what do you do? Why?
- Have you experienced an overly stressful pause? What happened?
- What are the advantages of a planned pause over a spontaneous one?
- How can you use a “dead zone” workplace to your advantage?
- What has been your worst “holiday low” and what caused it?
- What hacks can you share about managing family dynamics during the holidays?
- What gifts can you give yourself and others that don’t cost anything?
Resources
To help you prepare for the chat, we’ve compiled a list of resources for you to browse. (Note that you will need to be a Mind Tools Club or Corporate member to see all of the resources in full.)
Getting Your Team Through the Holiday Season
Dealing With Seasonal Changes in Workload
10 Ways to Make a Bad Day Better
The 12 Dangers of the Office Party
How to Join
Follow us on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action this Friday! We’ll be tweeting out 10 questions during our hour-long chat.
To participate in the chat, type #MTtalk in the Twitter search function. Then, click on “Latest” and you’ll be able to follow the live chat feed. You can join the chat by using the hashtag #MTtalk in your responses.
The post #MTtalk: Planning Your Pause – Holiday Highs and Lows appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
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