10 Tips for the Festive Season

10 Tips for the Festive Season. December can be a busy time for everyone, so here are 10 quick ways you can maximise your yuletide joy, minimise pressure, and set yourself up for leadership success in 2025.

1. Remember that hazards don’t take a holiday

Even if we’d like them to, risks in the workplace don’t take a holiday — and some can be even greater over the holiday season. In the last couple of years, we’ve supported many workplaces to review their hazards and create simple, workable plans — particularly following Safe Work Australia’s updated WHS Regulation and model Code of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards at work.

If you’d like to explore how we could support you in this space in 2025, please get in touch, or find out more by going to our psychosocial risk management page.

2. Put your own oxygen mask on first – just like they say on those pre-take off drills!

It can be easy to prioritise others over ourselves during the holiday season. Especially when we’re juggling multiple demands in our personal and working life. However, it’s really important that we remember to look after ourselves — and put our own oxygen mask on first. Give yourself permission to take time out to look after your own wellbeing on a regular basis. It’s great role modeling for others, and it’s good for yourself, not just in the short term but the long-term. It’s why we regularly cover this topic in our work with leaders, teams, and individuals.

3. Explore some new ideas with our reading tips – and balance your professional reading with fun stuff…

Reading has some surprising benefits for our mental health and wellbeing. If you’d like to dive into some professional reading over the holidays or to start off 2025 here are some ideas:

• Explore our exclusive resources on leadership and wellbeing, including handouts, worksheets and exercises. Use the password effective101 to access.
• Check out two books we loved this year – Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg and Hidden Potential by Adam Grant.
• Explore one we have on our reading list for next year – Belonging by Owen Eastwood, which we recently heard recommended by Chris Fagan, Australian Rules Football Coach.

4. Remember the value of a really good quiz!

Whether it’s a family gathering, or a get-together with friends or colleagues, it can be fun to mix things up a bit with a Christmas quiz. It’s a great way of involving everyone and doing something a bit different. Who knows, it might even become part of your regular Christmas traditions!

Here is a sample quiz question to get you started
Q. ‘On average, how long does it take for a new behaviour to become a habit?’
A. You can find the answer here.

5. To perform really well, consciously ‘switch off now’ and again

To be effectively ‘switched on’ and performing well for long periods of time, we need short doses of ‘switching off’ to rest the body and mind. The best way to switch off is to switch to another activity (physical or mental). If we simply tell the mind to ‘switch off’, it doesn’t work so well – a bit like if I asked you not to think about pink elephants right now …

Some great strategies for switching off include physical energisers, distractors and relaxers, and reflectors and releasers.

While the world of elite sport leans heavily on the importance of rest and recovery, we know it’s not a topic that’s always focused on in business. But we see it as critical. It’s why we regularly cover it in our wellbeing work with clients.

6. Look after the shift workers or remote workers in your life, especially if you’re one of them!

Research shows that non-standard working patterns can have significant health impacts. Our blog on tips for coping at Christmas time provides eight pointers to help support the FIFO and remote workers in your life.

7. Keep moving

If the pressure builds up over the festive season, don’t forget that walking (or other exercise) and spending time in nature can be a great way to reduce feelings of stress or pressure. It’s also good for our physical wellbeing. Whether it’s breathing in mountain air, taking a walk on the beach or swimming in the ocean, being in nature can be a great way to forget your troubles and help see things from a different perspective.

8. Embrace and recognise diversity in the workplace, at home and in your social networks

Inclusion is about recognising and celebrating diversity and difference. Think about how you can recognise and celebrate the different meaning that we might each bring to the festive season and look at ways you could celebrate or recognise other special events or festivals throughout the year.

9. Keep in mind that difference can be productive!

Over the holiday season, we might connect with family members, acquaintances or others in our community with different views to our own. Remember that everyone has a unique point of view. Understanding can take effort but it can also be incredibly rewarding. As Charles Duhigg explains in Supercommunicators, ‘when people believe that others are trying to understand their perspective, they become more trusting, more willing to express their thoughts and ideas’. When you hear a different point of view this festive season, consider how you could explore your understanding of that difference, to help see things from the other person’s perspective. Try asking open questions with genuine curiosity. You might be surprised at the answers you hear!

10. Try something different. Novelty is good for our brain.

Research shows that our brain is able to continue to grow and change throughout our lives. This ability for our brains to grow and change – called neuroplasticity – means it’s possible for us to change our patterns of thinking and behaving, to develop new mindsets, new skills, and new abilities. What would you like to do differently in 2025?
 
Wishing everyone happy holidays, and a happy festive season!

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*** Search ‘Christmas on our Blog Page to find other posts about managing the silly season’