It’s the most beautiful time of the year… but also the most stressful!

As we step into December the end of the year is in sight and with it comes the pressure of finishing tasks and reaching deadlines as well as meeting with friends and family.

The chances are your advent calendar isn’t bringing you much joy and the sweetness of the chocolate figure is quickly offset by the bitterness of knowing that you now have one day less to achieve everything on your to do list. There are projects to finalise by the end of the year and reports requested a week earlier than normal, meaning you now have 3 weeks rather than 4 to do more work than usual.

So you do what everyone else does at times of pressure and stress, you start work earlier, take shorter breaks, log back into you account in the evening to check emails just to make sure you get it done… all before starting on the jobs you’ve given yourself at home.

Let’s face it, It’s a high pressure situation on many different fronts as we try to achieve goals we’ve both had set for us by others as well as set for ourselves.? We not only want to succeed on the work front, we also want to provide our loved ones -particularly our children- with a special experience at this time of the year. So where in this equation is the time for us to take care of ourselves, our needs? How can we ensure we get the down time we need to recuperate?

If you’re an introvert, a perfectionist, a people pleaser, or all 3 you could be setting yourself up for failure, or breakdown, if you aim to succeed in all areas… without a master plan.

Before you’re tipped over the edge by feelings of overwhelm, take some time to look at the big picture of what you’re aiming to achieve both professionally and privately.

Work place obligations

There are only so many hours in a day you can work on getting things done so prioritising tasks is key. If you haven’t already, make a list of everything that’s on your work to do list and categorise them as essential, ideal and can wait until next year.

If you’re having trouble moving anything from the essential to the ideal or can wait list, then you need a different approach. In this case taking a reality check of ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ can be a good starting place. What I do is rate my ‘to dos’ from 1-5 on the consequences of it not getting done. Level 5 will have severe consequences such as the boss firing me (or a colleague) whereas level 1 could mean someone lower down in seniority gets mild to moderately upset with me.

Home obligations

Having let go of trying to get a never ending pile of work tasks done, it’s time to move on to your private sphere. What is it you’re trying to achieve? What are you motivations and who’s standards are you trying living up to really?

List all the things that you’d like to get done, the presents, the food, the decorations, the cleaning and take another reality check. What’s top priority and what would be nice to have but not essential. If you’ve answered ‘It’s all essential’ you need to once again step back from the situation and rate things from 1-5 on severity of the consequences. This can be even more difficult to get perspective on because we’re talking about potentially disappointing our loved ones not just our work colleagues.

If this is a challenge for you Imagine yourself on the other side of the holidays and ask yourself: Once the holidays are over how much will I or the others really care if X didn’t happen?

It’s also important to not assume you know best when it comes to other people’s values. Ask family members how important certain traditions are to them today. Sometimes we continue traditions that just take energy and no longer hold great importance.

Social obligations

The many social obligations that coincide in December also take up precious time and energy. Even things we love take energy to do, so make sure you’re saying yes to things that will give you energy rather than rob it from you. As an introvert these social events can be draining and work parties? particularly challenging if you’re not confident making small talk with people who aren’t part of your immediate team. The obvious solution can be to turn down work invitations, but that might not be the best solution for you both personally and professionally. Work socials at this time of the year can be great opportunities to mingle and be seen in a relaxed environment. There’s a special quality to the end of year party that isn’t present the rest of the year so find a way to attend if you can.

I’ve created an Introverts Christmas Party Survival Plan, just for introverts like you, and the bonus is that you can apply the tips to any social events whether they’re work or private at any time of the year, so check it out. You can get it here.

Personal Obligations

What are these I hear you cry? The chances are you’ve neglected to add your needs to the list of things to accomplish before the end of the year. If you haven’t got at least 3 things you want to do for you before the holidays, you need to start thinking! I know it might feel like this is adding more tasks to your already filled to do list, but doing things your yourself, whether it’s getting your hair or nails done, getting to the gym or sauna or just 30 minutes a day with your favourite series/podcast or noise cancelling headphones, make sure you schedule it as high priority. These personal obligations are possibly the most important, because to get through these busy final days of the year you need to be in a good space. If not you’ll not be in the right headspace to actually enjoy everything you’ve been working so hard to achieve.

If you’ve found these tips useful and you’d like one-to-one support to help manage your introvert life in 2025 drop me a DM to find out how we can work together to make your life simpler and more effective.