Don’t panic, it’s only Christmas
Wind down, don’t crank up as the year comes to an end
This is the time of year when many of us are looking forward to taking a break, however things can get busier than ever as we prepare for that. Speaker, stress expert and Critical Incident Professional Monique Knight says we get tired whether we realise it or not, particularly when we are moving towards Christmas when things seem to escalate and become frenzied.
“Our insides feel that. We’re working at a higher pace coming out of the winter — possibly not having had a break or having had illness in the winter, so people have Christmas time panics,” she says.
“I have to get my house finished, my work needs to be up to date, my family perfect. Christmas becomes a time of perfection in every area of our lives.
“We wear ourselves out with it. Rather than a winding down period, it’s a cranking up period and everybody gets really tired. “It’s good in some ways as it means we get stuff done and that you actually do complete something by the end of the year and there is the reward in seeing you’ve accomplished something,” Knight says.
“However, sometimes in consequence people spend their couple of weeks of holiday a year recovering from frenzied time rather than actually having a good time.”
Knight says when you eventually do take a break, it’s often characterised by over-eating, over-drinking, over-playing — the time becomes quite frenzied. “Trying to fit it all in one period of time can be exhausting.
“I think it’s really important that we learn how to give our body and brain a rest so that we are fresh. Some of our best ideas come from the place of being relaxed.
“It’s good if there are at least a couple of days set aside where you spend no money, where you just hang out and spend time doing not much with friends or family, and take pressure off things that usually stress you out,
She acknowledges that some people need to be a bit active in order to be able to relax, it’s about knowing how you relax. “It’s important for employers to let their staff take their holidays.”
Knight says also that it’s good not to take all your leave over the Christmas period — just having a year-end holiday is not safe practice.
“This is because working 11 months without a break is not conducive to people keeping their passion, creativity and even love of their work going. If people don’t love their work, they’re often not that flash at it,” Knight says.
“Having a break gives you time to reflect and reboot.
“When you’re constantly working it’s hard to work out: ‘ who am I and what am I in the workplace; what is my retirement policy; am I on track to meet my goals; where am I on my developmental journey in my career?
“If I’m not okay with these things — what do I need to move forward? Where do I need to put my energy levels? All this working out can be done during your break. It doesn’t have to be a deep process, it could be about Joe saying to his mate over a beer that he’s not happy in his job and deciding he will work elsewhere.”
Helena Cooper-Thomas, Senior Lecturer of the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, says that as far as holiday breaks are concerned, research shows the relaxing benefit can be quite short lived.
“When you first come back to work you feel refreshed, but the benefits can quickly fade.
“I think it’s best to have good working habits all the time, so you can take your recovery incrementally rather than a once-a-year binge. It’s the same as being better off having a healthy diet all the time rather than doing a two-week detox once a year.
“It’s about having good everyday habits.”
Cooper-Thomas says: “Maybe a good way to look at a long holiday is it’s an opportunity to get those good habits in place, so you can keep them going when you’re back in your usual everyday routines.”
She agrees it may be also helpful to use holidays as a time for reflection.
“It could be that on holiday you have the time or energy to assess things such as if you’re happy with your job, if you should be looking for other opportunities and what your plans are.”
Cooper-Thomas says we should not underestimate the importance of mini breaks as well.
“Work or social activities during lunch breaks can hinder activity whereas relaxing during your breaks can aid activity.
Breaks should be a time to replenish your energetic resources.
Cooper Thomas says, “I’ve done research with Eugenie McGrath where we looked at recovery. We found that recovery in the evening is important to people being engaged with work.
“There are four types of recovery that we talk about: psychological detachment from work — being engaged mentally in other things; mastery — which is learning new things; control — which is being in charge of your time; and relaxation.
“Those can help you be more energetic in the new day, mentally ready for work as well as physically.”