We are at the home stretch of the end of 2021. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are vastly approaching. Some people love this time of year. It brings hot cocoa, sweaters, and sometimes even a beautiful landscape of snow. No matter what holiday you can always find people who are happy during that season, and some people who dread it when it gets closer.
Not everyone is a holiday person. Some people feel the holidays add much more stress and pressure on them. You have to plan to visit family, cook a huge dinner sometimes, and even make sure you have enough money to give your family a great Christmas. All of it can be overwhelming. You want to be the person that enjoys the holidays but once you are reminded of all the previously mentioned things, the anxiety and stress monster starts to creep up on you.
No one wants to be responsible for causing the people in their lives disappointment or sadness during the holidays. Sometimes people feel the need to just bare their teeth and smile through it. Some people end up spending the holidays alone every year and feel that seeing everyone around them happy just makes things worse. It is kind of like being single and seeing everyone around you in love. It’s no fun. You want to be just as joyous as the people who surround you, but how can you when you know that you won’t get to enjoy what they are looking forward to?
This all can be tough, especially if you are experiencing the stress that comes with work. We all get stressed at work, it happens. Sometimes in some people’s careers, the holiday season adds extra pressure to achieve and also more stress due to a fast-paced work environment. You may even have that overachieving boss who is trying to impress the big wigs and end the year with higher numbers. An overachieving boss can be more stressful than you think.
Either way, you may be experiencing work stress throughout the year but when the Halloween season ends you may already know that the next 2 months are going to be an uphill battle. November 1st can be a very happy time for people and a very anger-inducing time for some. You might be one of those people who has work stress throughout the year. It feels small at first but then you end up having it snowball and grow bigger that by the time the holiday season hits, you’re not in the mood for it.
There are a lot of people out there that feel the need to be a bit extra unfriendly around this time as well. Most people working in customer service-like roles tend to be stressed during their 9-5 but when the holidays hit they have more coming at them due to customers experiencing their own stressful holiday season. Granted this is supposed to be a happy and joyful time of year but some people just feel they need to take out their frustration on total strangers. If you have ever worked in a customer service type of job whether it is on the phone or face to face, you can relate.
We spend most of our time in our lives at work. It shouldn’t be a stressful time and the holiday season shouldn’t add to it. Many people are planning fun work activities, that co-worker who loves to bake and share with everyone, as well as those funny office gifts people like to buy for their co-workers. Since we spend most of our time at work, it becomes a second home to us with its own second family of people. Sharing happy smiles and laughs with them while you work during the holiday season can be a much-needed stress relief at work.
This is even more so when some companies like to reward their employees towards the end of the year for their hard work by throwing parties or providing an end-of-the-year bonus. Work stress is real, but the good thing is that no matter where you work there are people that can relate but most importantly appreciate what you do. They may even go that extra mile and encourage you to enjoy the holiday season around the office.
You may also be a person who has no work stress or very little and get hit hard with seasonal depression. It’s a real thing that happens more often than you think. Something about the seasons changing and the weather getting colder puts people in a fog that is hard to get out of. Unfortunately, it happens during the holidays but no matter what you do it might be unavoidable.
Seasonal depression and any mental health issue at work is something no one wants to experience, especially during the holidays. It can make it harder for people going through this and see everyone around them happy. It can make you feel like the odd person out or just an outsider. You may also be putting a vibe out there that makes you think no one wants to be around you. This is never the case. Being honest with your mental health issues and sharing what you are going through with your co-workers will help them to understand that it is something you can’t control and be more sensitive to your struggles.
How you feel at work and even more so how you feel during the holidays should be something you take into consideration. Work and the holidays can be hard but if you find ways to get small victories or joys from them, you will see that you can join in with the fun just like the people around you. Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath, relax and step away from your work desk to come back refreshed and ready to feel more comfortable mentally throughout the day, as well as the holidays.
