Why it is precisely a pleasure to work between Christmas and New Year

This week you receive out of offices as if no one is working anymore. And maybe – just maybe – you feel a twinge of jealousy as you slide behind your laptop, while the rest of your working mates are sleeping off their hangovers. But there is good news. Working between Christmas and New Year has its advantages.

1. No colleagues coming up with all sorts of nonsense for you
Let's take a moment to appreciate that your colleague isn't pushing those annoying little tasks onto you. Did you still receive a huge to-do list in your email? Forget that email, because: that can happen to the best of us.

2. One big party
If you have planned this work a bit in consultation, then the chance is big that you can have a great time with your favorite colleague. Who is of course also just working, because that’s what you agreed upon. Lunching together, walking around together, hanging out by the coffee machine. God, what a pleasure.

3. Cheers!
In this twilight zone between Christmas and New Year, it actually feels like every day is the weekend. At least every morning feels like you have a hangover, so you might as well make the most of it. It is therefore permissible to have a Friday afternoon drink every day. Around three, push the laptop aside a bit and take the first sip from the glass, delightful. Play a bad playlist and move from left to right across the department.

4. No one calls
No normal person works this week, so no one is calling you. And if someone does call you, you just don’t pick up. Everyone knows that everyone is off between Christmas and New Year and no one thinks that you are working.

5. No one emails
Another advantage of the fact that everyone is staring at their own belly button at home or has hurriedly left for Austria on Thursday. It’s almost rude to email people in this last week of the year.

6. And absolutely no one makes an appointment
Which means you can work without makeup, with your hair in a bun, and possibly even unwashed. I know we have gotten used to it, but normally these moments were scarce. Think back to that.

7. You have the office to yourself
That is of course a broad concept since corona, but in the last week of the year, no living soul dares to step into the office. You might run into an employer, but then you only score points because: you are working. And that deserves recognition.

8. That impossible project gets done
Even if you work only half the time, you still get more done than usual. Especially those monk tasks that you never get to during a regular workweek. So you can also pretend to be productive when everyone is back.

9. You build credits
You sacrificed yourself and your life to keep working in this impossible week, so who gets to take at least one week off in January as a reward? Exactly: you. Types into Google: where is it above 20 degrees in January?