On work Christmas parties, December productivity and silliness
Shall we go on for one more?
Most years, I consider December to be the court jester of the calendar. The month where everything loosens, people are a little lighter, more up for a laugh. The regular rules go somewhat out of the window. It is noticeable who is trying to utilise every last inch of ‘productive’ time (approach A - and without trying to sound pious, I consider myself in this category), and who has adopted a YOLO mentality, pushing every important conversation to January with reckless abandon (approach B).
2024 has been an excruciatingly tough market for many. It seems that it is resulting in a lethargic blend of approaches A and B. We are all trying on the one hand to squeeze some final juice out of the year, while also perhaps resigning ourselves to the fact that such major macro world events and trends have taken hold, and this means that we might do better to have a rest and pick up refreshed in January.
On the subject of seasonal cheer, are you having a Christmas lunch with your colleagues? Do you even have any colleagues, or are you working round the clock from home with perhaps only Siri or Claude the cat to chat to?
Work Christmas parties are always a funny subject. They either mean a lot to you, or they don’t. And in my experience, no matter your seniority, they tend to go one of two ways:
Route 1: make polite chat with a breadth of your professional pals, sticking to safe subjects like Netflix, holidays, Vinted, the best sourdough, your preferred commute, the shoes that you can wear in every situation, etc. Stick to no or low alcohol, or at best consume a couple of drinks. If the party began at lunch, safely exit before 8pm to ensure festive frivolity and ‘joining in’ but without staying to the end or even moving on to too many more locations. You are aware that the double edged sword of Christmas jubilance and downtime is that accounts pay you earlier in December and you need that to last you another 5 weeks! You leave feeling happy with your life choices and glad that’s all over for another year. Must email so-and-so about that project. Feeling closer to the new girl from marketing, you make a note to send her a Teams message in the morning with the link to that AirBnB in Florence.
Route 2: the one opportunity of the year to get trashed with your work family on the company dime. You do not go gently into that good night, rather it is time to set fire to the rain. Cheers-ing all your team while in an ironic Christmas jumper or twinkly headband, drinking anything from Guinness to Champagne, or gin and slim if you’re watching the party pounds. But not Jager Bombs, you’re past that. Later in the evening you may be found in a small group of 3 or 4 at the Hippodrome casino or in a Karaoke booth. Perhaps around 1am as the night tips into the slot where only questionable things happen, it dawns on you that you have not made your train home. Yet you wake the next day with a hangover that could be worse, so much to giggle about, and give yourself permission to break your fast with Diet Coke and a bacon or halloumi sandwich which you promptly share on the whatsapp group with your work BFFs.
In reality, most of us have been down routes 1 and 2 on different occasions. At Studio Reith we tend to gather in January for a late Christmas lunch. I’ll keep you posted on where that ends up!
PS - We are soon expanding with excellent guest writers lined up for 2025… watch this space!