How to Stay Positive During the Holidays

Ever wonder how to handle having to work on days when the rest of the "world" is off? Healthcare and service industry workers (along with utilities workers and the obliging plumber!) often get called upon to work when everyone else seems to be stuffing themselves with chocolate or turkey or latkes. It’s tough not only because you have to miss out on all that stuff, but when you are working, your customers aren’t always in the best moods.

Watching other people have fun, or hearing stories about it later, can really challenge our holiday spirit. But, it’s still important, as a friend, family member, or colleague to help people capitalize on their holiday cheer by being a positive, active listener. Even though you missed out, you can get a happiness boost by helping someone else revel in their experience. There’s no reason why they can’t enjoy their holiday, too, right?

If you’re part of a team that likes to have fun together, you can have small, short-interval holiday celebrations at work (if allowed by policy). Design them to be fun for one person to set up, two or more people to share, or a whole group to briefly engage in and disengage from. I’m maybe the world’s worst party planner, but one possibility would be to stack holiday cookies Jenga-like and challenge people who have a few seconds to try to extract their favorite cookie from the mix (after sanitizing their hands, of course!).

Dealing with people who expect you to sew up their alpaca ASAP so they can get back to their holiday meal can be annoying when they fail to recognize you’re also away from the feast. But, all the regular tips for dealing with difficult customers work just as well – everyone always thinks their own reason for being in a hurry is the most important thing in the world. Strive for an even temper, don’t let yourself get baited into an argument, clarify that some things take time, that some people are ahead of them, that everyone’s working as hard as they can, and that you take their concerns seriously. Then cross your fingers.

Eventually, they have to let you stop working. That’s when you can get creative with the calendar. Who says New Year’s Eve happens on December 31st? Set aside time to celebrate in some way with the people who matter to you when you get a chance.

 I do a lot of research and consulting around the topic of meaningful work, and from that experience, I think that exceptional veterinary teams are well positioned to give their members work experiences that really matter, and build lives worth living, rather than just sucking time away from things team members would rather be doing. We've identified a number of components, and being able to see that your work really helps some greater good is a big part of meaningful work. Over this holiday season, exceptional veterinary team members should take some time to appreciate the fact that they really are helping, that their labor matters on a deep level to others (even if those other people don't express that very well!), and use that appreciation to help each other ease through this busy season.