27 December 2020

Things you’ll understand if you’re working through Twixmas

27 December 2020

Probably the slowest week of every year, Twixmas marks that strange, semi-festive period between the excesses of Christmas and New Year’s. Vast swathes of the workforce take the period off, and those that don’t find themselves holding the fort through a unique patch of the working calendar.

Though this year’s Twixmas may be a little less momentous – because Christmas surely will be – it still presents an unusual cocktail of mixed emotions and unusual working conditions.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the annoying of working over Twixmas…

It’s usually pretty chilled out

2020 has posed an unusual number of obstacles to Christmas cheer, but even in the midst of a pandemic the mix of residual goodwill and empty calendars means Twixmas is among the most relaxed weeks of the working year. It’s practically the law to take a long lunch on December 27, and the pre-Christmas rush feels a distant memory.

Working Twixmas is often a smart use of leave. What would you rather miss: a few lazy days in December, or a week of desperate deadlines in July?

It is impossible to get hold of people

Work stress is often directly proportional to how many unread emails are in your inbox, and through Twixmas the usual flood of correspondence dwindles to a trickle. A boon most of the time, but not if you need someone to respond, and Twixmas novices learn the hard way to send essential emails weeks before.

Brace yourself before clicking send on group emails. The response will be an out-of-office avalanche.

It can be hard to concentrate

Twixmas home-workers are trapped in a lose-lose situation. Either they live alone, in which case working over Twixmas makes an already miserable situation even more miserable. Or they they live with friends or family, in which case good luck working against a backdrop of lazy post-Christmas lie-ins, bad TV, and festive leftovers.

It’s hard to focus on spreadsheets when your partner rolls out of bed at 11am, and promptly puts on Bad Santa 2.

It’s a great time for housekeeping

You know that list of tasks you never get round to doing, and, in your heart of hearts, don’t believe you ever will? Twixmas represents your one opportunity – a time of relative serenity when one boss is off work, the other is feeling festive, and you have the headspace to move outside your immediate brief.

Whether blue sky brainstorming or admin that’s months overdue, a productive Twixmas can cut your long-term to-do list in half.

It makes you appreciate your days off all the more

Without the focus of Christmas or New Year’s celebrations, Twixmas is a strangely unfocussed time. Marked by naps, food comas and winter walks, it’s great for a recharge, but when December 31 rolls around you’ll likely find you’ve done very little.

There isn’t really anything very special about Twixmas, and treating it like any other week will keep your festive energies where they belong.

You will resent it

For you, working over Twixmas may well be the right decision. It may have helped you develop your business, freed up valuable holiday time, or kept you busy during what has become a tricky part of the year.

But we judge ourselves by our surroundings, and when your social media feeds are filled with wrapping paper, and switched off alarm clocks, you will succumb to jealousy. Embrace it. You’re only human.

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