How to Avoid Getting Overloaded When Your Colleagues Take Time Off for the Holidays

How to Avoid Getting Overloaded When Your Colleagues Take Time Off for the HolidaysHow to Avoid Getting Overloaded When Your Colleagues Take Time Off for the Holidays Though the holidays are a popular time for workers to cash in on their vacation days, there are plenty of good reasons not to take time off toward the end of the year. For one thing, holiday travel can be prohibitively expensive, so if youre looking to visit friends and family, the latter part of the year is perhaps the worst time to do so. Additionally, putting in more face time toward the end of the year can work to your advantage when your manager is focused on things like promotions and raises . And, youll probably find that youre more productive when the ever-present distractions known as your coworkers disappear.Then again, theres a downside to having the office all to yourself, and its getting overloaded with work when everyone else is away. If youre worried that your life is going to be miserabl e during the holidays because your coworkers will be gone, heres how to mitigate that concern.When many of your colleagues take off at the same time, somebody has to pick up the slack. And chances are, that somebody will be you. That said, you shouldnt have to drive yourself utterly crazy trying to manage your own job plus the work of six other people, so before your colleagues leave, sit them and your boss down and set some ground rules. Explain that while youre happy to help out, you can only do so much, especially if you have your own deadlines to meet. With any luck, your manager will recognize the tough spot youre being put in and figure out a way to more equitably divvy up the load so you dont get slammed.At the same time, let your colleagues know that while youd like to serve as a backup for each and every one of them, you cant help everyone at the same time. This way, itll be on them to duke it out and see who gets to ask you for coverage, as opposed to you having to make that decision.Its common to see a lot of empty desks at the office around the holidays, but if youre concerned about keeping up with your workload in the absence of much of your team, try suggesting to your boss that you hire some temps to help compensate. Whether your manager says yes will probably be a function of your companys budget, but if theres wiggle room to get some extra hands on deck, and youre willing to train those temps, it might ease the burden on you.Getting overloaded with work is no fun, especially when it happens because youre frantically trying to cover for everyone whos out. At the same time, recognize that in doing all of that work, youre making a good impression on your boss while building some goodwill with your coworkers . And remember, if you push yourself to step up and cover other peoples workloads when theyre away, theyll return the favor when its your turn to be out.Theres no question about it Its hard being left behind at the office while your colle agues all take time off for the holidays. At the same time, that influx of work you might have to cope with isnt a long-term or permanent one, so if you can survive the next bunch of weeks, your officemates will be back before you know it.