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It’s time to embrace a slower pace – at least until January.
December is a funny month. Things are usually amping up in your personal life and winding down in your professional one – and this imbalance strikes up a range of issues. It can be hard to focus; you might feel overwhelmed; niggling feelings of not doing enough start to creep in.
The minute an advent calendar appears, I start to feel this sense of chaos creeping in. Everyone at work is on annual leave and those who are working avoid the office. Anyone who is sitting at their desk is – for some reason – sick with the flu, or the cold, or Covid.
‘Let’s circle back in January’ becomes a completely acceptable response to most tasks, and despite my email inbox mounting with end of year to-do lists and new years projects, I feel an increasing sense of exhaustion. I just want to procrastinate and eat mince pies on the sofa, and despite every marketing touchpoint telling me to do just that, I still feel an immense sense of guilt at the prospect.
Maybe it’s the lurking fear of January, lurking on the horizon ready to gift me all the unfinished tasks I put off at the end of the year. Perhaps it’s just difficult to shake the relentless pressure of productivity that we’re force fed 11 out of 12 months each year.
But as I get older I always find Christmas, a time which I loved as a child, feels less magical. And I’ve realised my resistance to embracing the season for all its slow, fudgy indulgence is a big part of the problem.
So, this year I’ve decided to relinquish control. It’s not about shutting my laptop and ignoring work until 2026. I’m just trying to be kinder to myself, which involves a good bit of winding down. Specifically, I’m pushing anything that isn’t an immediate priority to the back burner – be that a professional project or a personal commitment.
The part of Q4 where it’s “let’s circle back in January” 🔄
— Adobe Acrobat (@Acrobat) December 9, 2025
The calendar is usually packed at this time of year – and I’m lucky to be able to say that – but there’s no use overbooking yourself for the sake of showing face. This only leads to more exhaustion, a waning bank account, and January scaries so debilitating I’ll wish I’d just written the whole thing off come New Year’s Day.
It’s not just personal preference that calls for this act of pulling back. There’s also a physiological argument for slowing down. December sits in the heart of winter, when daylight hours are at their shortest.
Reduced exposure to sunlight can lead to lethargy, low mood, and a weakened immune system. Seasonal Affective Disorder aside, most of us feel the drag of darker mornings and earlier nights. Expecting ourselves to operate at peak capacity during this period is unrealistic at best and harmful at worst.
