The expert named ways not to burn out in the last working month of the year

In the business environment, December is traditionally considered the most stressful month: by the end of the year, you need to close KPIs, submit reports and protect the budget without getting lost in a series of corporate events and pre-holiday fuss. In such an atmosphere, it's easy to lose motivation even before the New Year's weekend. Inna Filippova, Chief Operating Officer of the SOK smart office network, told Izvestia on December 17 how to stay productive and come to the end of the year without burnout.

"Along with all the workload that traditionally falls on the team in December, the festive relaxation of the teams begins to be felt in parallel. This combination creates a specific situation where the workload is rapidly increasing, and the ability of employees to concentrate, on the contrary, is decreasing. To get through this period without experiencing critical stress, it is necessary to build a personal effectiveness strategy in advance," the expert said.

According to Filippova, the first step is to start prioritizing tasks correctly. It's useless to try to close all the accumulated issues at the same time, as this is the shortest path to burnout. It is better to set priorities right away and determine which tasks will definitely be postponed to January, what needs to be done here and now, and what can simply be maintained. Thanks to a clearer structure, anxiety will decrease and an understanding of what the real list of current obligations looks like will appear.

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As another equally important problem of the "office December", the expert highlighted the general trend of decreasing energy and concentration, which greatly affects the effectiveness of teams if it is not managed.

"Most often, productivity decreases not only due to an increase in the number of tasks, but also because they are of the same type. It is necessary to introduce short pauses that allow you to switch — even for a few minutes, change activities during the day and expand team interaction. In a never—ending work flow, it helps to keep concentration at an acceptable level, as well as maintain a sense of control over the situation," she added.

Despite the work overload, you should not completely abandon the festive mood. Small rituals such as coffee breaks together, the "secret Santa" that has become established in many companies, and New Year's Eve greetings work only as a plus, defusing the atmosphere, the expert concluded.

Yulia Malevannaya, General Director of the Autonomous Research Institute of Functional Nutrition, told on December 12 which medications and vitamins should be taken in advance to make it easier to postpone New Year's Eve. The expert recommended starting taking hepatoprotectors based on essential phospholipids, which help the liver cope with alcohol and food stress, 1-2 weeks before the New Year. Phospholipids act as building blocks for the repair of liver cells, which experience maximum stress during the holidays.

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