How to Balance Work and Festive Season: Productivity Hacks for Project Managers

While some projects might have an end of year deadline, in my experience, most projects finish when they finish. So there’s every chance that your projects, like mine, will run through the holiday period.

We do need to recharge, rest and reset, and so do the people on the team. So how do you balance the pressures of work and leadership’s desire to keep hitting those milestones, over the festive season?

I’ve been project managing for over 20 years and I’ve had to balance my workload with taking time out for family and having a personal life over that time, like we all do. I love Christmas, so I want to be able to celebrate while not worrying about work. Let me share some of my tried-and-tested tips for doing exactly that.

Plan your time

Time feels more limited over the holiday season in the run up to year end because the days are shorter (for us in the Northern hemisphere at least). There’s also:

• Pressure from management to get work delivered before the end of the year for a tidy close
• More people off work
• Children off school (and before that, carol concerts, shows and so on)
• Personal objectives to meet for performance reviews.

Plus, I simply want to end the year knowing I’m in a good place work-wise. So we have to be smart with how we use our time.

Read next: Time management tips for when everything is a priority

Book your time off

If you haven’t used your entire holiday allowance, check to see what time is owed to you and book it.

Encourage the rest of your team to book their vacation days too.

Prioritize your tasks

Set clear goals for what you are planning on achieving, and check in with yourself – is that really realistic? It’s easy to be over-optimistic about how much you can do. Make sure your goals align with people on your project teams.

If you use time-blocking, then double down on that to get through more periods of focus time and blitz your to do list. If you don’t use time-blocking then start! It works for your personal responsibilities too, like batch cooking.

Lean into your project management software, action logs and RAID to stay organized.

Review your schedule

Will your schedule stay true over the holiday period? That’s when IT implements change freezes, colleagues are off and suppliers close their offices.

Review your project plans and double check that your dates are achievable. Plan extra time if you need it.

Watch your stress levels

Burnout, anyone? This is the worst time of year for feeling under pressure as there’s definitely a sense that people are weighing up what they have achieved in the year and wanting to squeeze out a little bit extra. Plus holiday parties – that’s a recipe for expectation and stress.

If mindfulness techniques work for you, great. Personally, I’m more likely to do a yoga or Pilates video from YouTube. Whatever your personal relaxation technique, make the time to fit in something that supports your mental health.

Set boundaries. Only two evenings out a week? No more than 6 guests round at a time? Whatever your personal red lines that will help you avoid overwhelm and stress, make them. For me, it’s writing all the Christmas cards on the first available day of December as then that’s a chore that’s done.

Holidays bring a lot of distractions, so think about what would help you stay the most focused. For me, that’s a To Do list, and delegating holiday chores to family members so we spread the load between us.

Stay on the same page with your team

Keep the communication lines open with your team. Set expectations about when you will be working and when you are off, and don’t check Teams messages, Slack or email while you are out of the office. (Easier said than done, I know.)

Review the project schedules and if things need to move as resources aren’t available, then make those changes as early as you can to manage stakeholder expectations.

Use your email signature to alert people to upcoming leave and then set an out of office message.

Stop asking people to travel. With our November, December, and January weather, the less time you spend on the roads or standing on station platforms, the better. Remember, they’ll want to fit in personal activities as well, and it’s hard to make it to the kids’ end-of-year show or do some holiday shopping if you’ve got to travel back from a job site miles away.

Delegate and outsource

Delegate and outsource: this goes for personal tasks as well as work tasks!

Identify any tasks that can be delegated or outsourced. Now, to do that, you need a reliable support network, so hopefully, you’ve been working on creating that during the year so your team members have the skills they need to pick up work from you and from each other to cover for absence.

It really helps if you have smooth workflows, documented processes, and have got as much as you can automated.

If you are delegating approvals while you are off, make sure the delegate knows how they work and what might be coming through the approval pipeline. When I go away, my manager gets any workflow messages for me so can approve things like purchase order requests on my behalf.

Focus on team morale

Not everyone is a holiday person, but it’s nice to organize virtual or in-person events for the team. It’s a way of recognizing and appreciating the team’s efforts throughout the year, and it’s a bit of a workplace tradition in many places.

That might mean going out for a meal, organizing a potluck or a fuddle, or simply congregating in the kitchen at the office for a glass of something cold and some nibbles.

Set a good example for everyone else: you should be able to have a healthy work-life balance, and that shows people it’s possible. Honestly, I’m not sure that I do, as when things are busy on projects, I work a lot, but I’m pretty good at giving people the impression I’m not drowning unless they need to know!

Work smarter, not harder

Easy to say, not as easy to do. Here are some suggestions for boosting your personal productivity that you can lean into at this time of year but that work all year round.

• Find a productivity app or approach that you love and stick to it
• Put all your Christmas plans and notes in a bullet journal
• Create a conducive work environment at home so you can work away from the buzz and distractions of the festivities
• Balance work tasks with festive activities – it’s OK to make time for fun!

Balancing work and the festive season as a project manager requires careful planning, prioritization, and a strong focus on both personal and team well-being. But isn’t that the job all year round?

Take a deep breath, get yourself organized, and think about how you are going to plan out this hectic time to meet all your commitments. Set realistic goals, actively manage your stress, maintain clear communication with your team, and embrace the support of your colleagues.

The holidays should be a time of joy, and business hours aren’t going to get in the way of that! It might feel like your work-related projects are taking a backseat to family activities or even chores and holiday preparations at home, but that’s most likely the case for everyone.

In this season, spread the holiday spirit and navigate work at home and in the office without sacrificing either your professional responsibilities or your personal time to recharge and celebrate. Happy holidays!