Dry January is ruining my workplace!

It’s happening all over the world right now; the post holiday season attempt to get healthy. Gym memberships have their seasonal peak, whereas fast-food joints and bars are having their ‘quiet-time’. It’s an annual occurrence of the 21st century. Our ancestors from the previous millennium had a different opinion on this, and felt that January was as good as any other to have a drink in the local.

But how does this relate to work? Well, suffice to say I would never try to steer someone away from trying to make themselves healthier, but the only decisive thing about this month of abstinence is that the jury is out; there are still no conclusive studies that show one way or the other that this actually has any real long-term benefits.

What this does do however is puts people through a month-long process of anti-social behaviour. It’s clear that many people feel like a social occasion should be coupled with a drink and that a month of resisting this equates to a month of solitude. So how does this encroach on the workplace?

When people head off on Friday afternoon or even for a midweek after work chat, is where a lot of positive tends to happen. Colleagues can talk candidly about work, their likes and dislikes and most importantly discuss new ideas or initiatives that they want to bring into the office the next day. It’s where creativity can be a little more unhinged and the mini-entrepreneur can come out of everyone. It’s a great time for collaborative thinking. If everyone is confined in their self-imposed solitude, then how can this possibly happen?

As a start-up founder with a small, growing and very dedicated team, I have to find ways where I can both respect people’s decisions for taking part in dry January, but also find ways for everyone to work together and get out of the work space. I’ve tried a few things here with some luck and thought they’d be worth sharing:

1.    Breakfasts: If you can’t do stuff after work, then before is the next best thing. If done correctly it can set you up for a positive and productive day. You can definitely use this an opportunity to get people revved up and also help them with their healthy drive by offering something nutritious in the mornings (or even just a coffee). The downside: It’s still not after work. The energy levels in the morning vary drastically with people and the timing of the day inevitably means the day is ahead of you, meaning the discussions tend to be more about the immediate concerns and tasks rather than idea generation.

2.    Project based work: If the work environment is flexible enough then it makes sense to put people on time-sensitive projects that let them really get buried in their work and by the time the January month has come to an end, it will be time to deliver that project. One advantage of dry January is that people are working longer hours because they’ve got way more free time. Whether that’s drumming up leads for a large marketing campaign, or compiling some market research for a white paper, it makes a huge difference to your year ahead if you’ve spent the first month using your time wisely.

3. After-work! Yes, even though it’s dry January it doesn’t mean the infamous after work goes away: there are still plenty of networking events, seminars and conferences that are available for you to go and broaden your understanding of a particular topic. Sites like meetup.com and tech.london are perfect examples where you can go and join in on other things.

Planning other team activities also goes down quite well; we’re about to kick off a squash league during January and half the office has signed up – meaning not only will the entire office be participating in a regular and fun activity, it’ll continue way beyond dry January.

Whilst the dry January exercise is commendable and a good test of determination (a characteristic that I think is essential in business), don’t let it ruin your workplace. Colleagues and teams should really learn to find other ways to socialise, and use this time in the best possible way to broaden their horizons – it’s the perfect opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and kick off the new year in the best possible way!