Things It’s Okay to Let Slide at Christmas and New Year

🎄 Things It’s Okay to Let Slide

 at Christmas and New Year

That weird stretch between Christmas and New Year isn’t normal life. Work is half-on, plans are random, time stops making sense, and the only consistent schedule is “eat whatever is left.”

So if things feel a bit messy right now — good. That’s the correct experience. Here are a few things it’s genuinely okay to let slide for a few days.

1️⃣ Productivity Being Low

The week between Christmas and New Year isn’t normal time, and expecting normal output during it is pointless.

Most people aren’t fully working, fully resting, or fully off. Emails are slow, replies drag, and half the people you’d normally interact with aren’t paying attention anyway. Trying to force productivity in that environment usually just leads to frustration.

Doing less during this week doesn’t mean you’re falling behind. It usually means you’re responding to the reality of the calendar. Very little meaningful progress happens in these few days, no matter how hard you try to push it.

If you get one or two small things done, great. If not, nothing breaks. The year isn’t decided by how productive you are between Christmas and New Year.



2️⃣ Routines Being Messy

Christmas destroys routines. Sleep shifts. Meals happen at weird times. Days blur together. And suddenly your usual habits don’t fit the week you’re actually living.

The mistake is thinking that means you’ve “lost” your routine. You haven’t. You’ve just stepped out of it for a few days because the calendar changed.

Routines are meant to support your life, not punish you for having one week that looks different. If your normal structure comes back in January, this messy week won’t have mattered at all.

Let it be messy. The fastest way to get back on track later is to stop treating a temporary disruption like a permanent failure.



3️⃣ Motivation Disappearing

If your motivation has vanished, that’s normal. You’ve just made it through a long year, a busy season, and probably several days of socialising, travelling, and eating like a champion.

This is not the moment your brain suddenly decides to become an organised, driven machine. It’s the moment your brain tries to recover.

Motivation comes back when you rest, not when you force it. If you try to “push through” this week, you usually end up tired and annoyed — and still not motivated.

If all you manage is the basics for a few days, that’s fine. Motivation isn’t a personality trait. It’s an energy level.



4️⃣ Screen Time Being Higher Than Usual

Between Christmas and New Year, screen time goes up. People scroll. People binge TV. People sit with their phone while pretending they’re “just resting their eyes.”

If your normal week is structured, this can feel like you’re wasting time. But this week isn’t built for peak productivity or perfect habits. It’s built for surviving long days, random plans, and downtime that doesn’t have a clear purpose.

The key isn’t “no screens.” It’s knowing the difference between switching your brain off for a bit and disappearing into a scroll for hours without noticing.

If screens are helping you decompress right now, fine. Just don’t let them be the only thing you do with your day.



5️⃣ Plans Changing or Getting Cancelled

Christmas plans change constantly. Someone’s tired. Someone’s ill. Someone’s car won’t start. Someone “can’t be bothered anymore” and honestly… fair.

If plans get cancelled, it doesn’t automatically mean something is wrong. It usually means people have hit their social limit, their energy is gone, and the week is doing what it does.

Try not to take it personally. Most of the time it’s not about you — it’s about timing, fatigue, money, travel, or people simply needing a day with nothing happening.

Sometimes a cancelled plan is the best gift you get all week: a quiet day, no pressure, and a reset before January starts pretending it’s serious.



This week doesn’t need to be productive, impressive, or perfectly structured. It just needs to pass without you making everything harder than it has to be.

Let a few things slide. You’ll pick them back up when normal life comes back.



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