Working all the way up until Christmas

[iwasfineandlight]

i opted to take everyday (aside from the bank holidays) to work so that I could have the leave to take a holiday in February.

but oh my god I’m struggling now. All I want is a decent chunk of time off like everyone else in my office but I don’t get it.

AIBU to ask for ways to motivate myself to get through it?!

Next year why not book at least a day or so to extend your Christmas break. Sadly this does not solve the issue for this year. February will soon be here and hopefully you can have a decent break from work.

As someone who worked every day over Christmas when I was in an office, I just thought that other people, perhaps with little kids or family who might not see next Christmas get to make special memories.

Also promised myself lots of drink and chocolate on Christmas Day

Yes I definitely will next year! I started a new job partway through their annual leave year and had a holiday booked before I started, so it sort of ate up a lot of my leave. I had 14 days compared to the usual 27. So I’m looking at potentially taking it all next year!

I am working all the way through , I have got half day off on Christmas day .
I am not happy about ot but it's expected in this industry ( not shops / bars / hospital or 99.9 % of others things you'd expect)

How busy are you? If it’s really busy, then I feel your pain. If your presence is nominal nd not much going on then I feel a bit differently.

Think about everyone in the emergency services and hospitality who won't even get Christmas Day off.

It’s pretty busy. There’s no wind down time, it’s just stop for two days and then come back on Monday

Funnily enough it’s possible to recognise that they have a shit deal, while also not enjoying my own job.

Ww are there the normal stuff and "just in case something goes wrong" so it can be fairly quiet or all hell can let loose

I don't know, you still have bank holidays and you are using your days off later, so it's something to look forward to.

Why does it make such a difference to you to work around the bank holidays this week, instead of a full week at the beginning of the month?

My motivation would be that I saving my days off, or they would be gone by the beginning of next year 😂

I don't mind being in when it's quiet, I get more done. But then I'm keeping my leave for trips that I'm looking forward to so that helps.

I think it’s just the routine of it for me. I’ve come from a job where I’d be off from the 23rd to the 3rd minimum, if not the 5th or 6th. It just feels quite draining this year for some reason

I’d pack Christmassy lunches for work (and think about them all morning 😋
I love the Sainsbury’s Brie and cranberry or turkey, bacon and chutney sandwiches and the little packs of cheese and onion rolls.

You said "to ask for ways to motivate myself to get through it?!"

I actually thought my suggestion was motivation. But sure, have a snit.

It’s not motivation though, it’s a snarky dig.

If you say so.

I work in a pub, love. And I still appreciate the people I know I can call on if I need assistance on Christmas Day. We get through it with good humour, because we know how lucky we are to have jobs and health.

I wasn't actually being snarky. But the fact you took it that way, speaks volumes.

Merry Xmas 🌲

Sorry, i read your post as snippy too. This is the trouble with texting/emailing etc. as opposed to hearing someone say it. It's s easy to misinterpret it if you read it in the wrong tone

I feel you. Every year I work through till the evening of the 24th and every year I question why I didn't book AL. But then, a few years ago I did and actually ended up being pretty bored by day 3.
Luckily, not much is going on at work at all so I probably only have to work 3-4h across the next two days.

I'm in the same boat. As much as I know I don't want the time off now, it's hard not to notice everyone's 'out of office' emails or social media posts!

In my situation I don't have a lot to do at Christmas, as we've no children and a small family, so I'm reminding myself that I wouldn't really have anything I'd want to do, it's miserable weather, it's dark really early, my friends are too busy to meet up and that the telly is rubbish! Also congratulate yourself at picking a good year as the way the BHs fall with the weekend is great!

If you have more family - well, I guess you're avoiding some of the potential for family dramas by being busy!

I get it - it’s hard watching others go off for Christmas while you’re still slogging.

I would just think: This is a 4 hour block of time when I’m going to be working, and then I get a break to have a SUPER CHRISTMASSY brie and bacon sandwich. So you’re still having “just as much Christmas fun honest!”, but with 3 or 4-hour gaps for work.

My job is incredibly busy in the run up to Christmas. People are allowed to book holiday but everyone gets told they will work anyway. Some people book regardless as they want to travel to see family.

Every year I reconsider my life choices. Working 80 hours a week with tons of stress and pissed off clients and having a breakdown daily (I cried 3 times on Friday because people were horrible to me) while the rest of the world gets to do Christmassy stuff is awful.

I had so much work to do this morning, I did nothing until 11am. I was paralysed by the influx of emails, didn't know where to start.

Maybe you should planned better? You could have anticipated this and taken the time off surely?

Ah its lovely that you recognise that some of it is because it isn't what you ate used to. I used to work all of it (nhs) and got to quite enjoy it. You might grow to love it - more the time off after. 2 days is still quite a bit of time off as long as you can make it work for you.
I always hated nights but some people thrived on them so no right or wrong. Just hold on to the thought of February x

That doesn't sound sustainable, Christmas or not. Maybe time to look for another job, or if that's not possible, develop strategies to cut off people being rude.
It sounds like management are not intervening to provide you with a safe working environment, but would they support you if you were to immediately terminate conversations where people were be/ing unpleasant by saying something like " I'm not able to continue this discussion whilst I am under personal attack/ we can resume this conversation later once you have calmed down/ your tone is abusive and I am here in a professional capacity"?
If you are able to give a little more info about the context, maybe we can help you with specifics, no one should have to put up with that.

It’s definitely just going to be a this year thing! I’ll be booking off as much as I can next year lol