Festivities bring cheer but also stress. From balancing deadlines, celebrations, and personal commitments holidays at the office can be challenging. Learn how to stay productive and stress-free.

When it’s not the most wonderful time of year at work.

Key points

• Many Americans find the holidays to be stressful, especially given pressure to celebrate and spend.
• Workplace dynamics during the holidays can be complicated, involving office politics and personal emotions.
• Remember that many people struggle with this time of year, and your own feelings are not unusual or wrong.

The holidays can be hard. And for some, they aren’t even a holiday at all. Whether this time of year separates you from loved ones, reminds you of those you have lost, or Christmas simply isn’t a day you celebrate, it can be a downright exhausting time of year.

Read More Here: Winter Wellness: 10 Tips For Staying Healthy This Holiday Season

At the office, work can be a respite—or another reminder. If you work in retail, it’s almost impossible to avoid the early November to late December rush. But even if your job is in a corporate environment or elsewhere, you can be fatigued by the holiday music, Christmas present chatter and generally seasonal “volume” of this time of year.

Holidays at the office? Work-based holiday celebrations can be particularly stressful

Use work as respite, if it is. If going to work offers you a distraction from the holiday season, there’s nothing wrong with that. You might get occasional questions about travel plans or light joking if you are still hunkered down on a Friday night. But it’s easy enough to say you want to get a jump start on things. Or remind people that you don’t celebrate the holiday.

If you have personal reasons for struggling through the holidays (as opposed to simply not observing it), you decide how much to share with colleagues. A light but audible, “Sometimes the holidays can get a little tough for me,” should be enough.

Work remotely if being out of the office is easier. With the surge in remote and hybrid working, this might be the easiest solution if your workplace leans into the holiday season. If this time of year is packed with holiday lunches, the office is decorated with

Christmas décor, and office Secret Santa parties about…maybe it’s easier to simply work from home. How much you have to disclose at work will obviously vary with circumstances.

If you need a brief explanation, you can simply say, “I think I’ll be more productive working from home during the season.” And you might be—worker productivity is much harder to maintain during the holidays and your employer might be grateful that someone is voluntarily amping their focus up instead of down.

Choose which work-related holiday events make sense for you. The truth is, politics at the office matter. And being social and relatable is an important part of that. If you are a team leader, you will probably have more pressure to participate in holiday activities.

However, you can still delegate to someone on your team (who is enthusiastic about the holidays) to arrange the holiday lunch.

Things like Secret Santa might be easier to skip, whereas an official holiday dinner or party in the evening might be worth at least showing up for. These activities can be the most difficult to get through, so don’t go to everything. Choose what’s most important for you.

Your holiday stress is widespread: you are not alone. Remember also that you are very likely not the only one struggling with the holidays. Ten years ago a study reported by Harvard Medical School that 62 percent of respondents reported feelings of increased stress during the holiday period.

That number has increased, likely in the wake of Covid-19, economic uncertainty and a recent US election. An APA study in 2023 found that 89 percent of respondents felt increased stress during the holidays.

In addition to all the people who mourn loved ones during this time (and the pandemic was only a few years ago which increased those numbers), there are those going through divorce, illness, financial hard times and other challenges.

Those who struggle with alcohol abuse or other substance addictions can feel the pull of those illnesses during this period. In other words, remember that while you can’t make yourself full of holiday cheer, you should remember that not everyone else is either.

Use time at home to de-stress and revive during the holidays stress

Time at home, if spent recharging, can help you remain productive—and pleasant—at work. No matter what steps you take at work to distance yourself from the holidays, it won’t be possible to ignore the season entirely.

So, it’s more important than ever to make sure that you do more at home in terms of self-care. For some, working from home will be the perfect solution. You can shut out almost all work-related holiday décor and conversation.

But assuming fully remote work isn’t an option, then instead use time at home as a chance to regroup and distance yourself from the holiday frenzy.

Reduce your intake of television and social media. The reality is that the Christmas season is the largest retail period of the year, and for many, a deeply religious event. You can’t avoid it entirely, and you may frustrate yourself if you try.

However, what you can do is reduce some of the incoming noise. This might be as simple as treating yourself to an ad-free month of a streaming service so you can binge without Christmas commercials.

It could mean turning off some social media notifications so you aren’t bombarded with photos of decorated front lawns or holiday cookies. Be realistic about putting your head in the sand but be proactive about turning down what you can.

Your holiday season might not be the most wonderful time of the year, but you can find some peace and joy in your own private space.

Read More Here: 5 Simple Ways To Beat Holiday Stress And Spend Quality Time With Family

How do you deal with holiday work stress? Tell your hacks and ideas in the comments below!

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Written by Robert Kovach Ph.D.
Originally appeared on: Psychology Today