For many of us, December is a month of abundance—even excess. It’s a period of rich food, crowded social calendars, and endless reminders to buy more things.
And that’s just in our personal lives.
For many of you reading this newsletter, December is the busiest month of the year for your organization. Depending on your sector, you may be managing annual giving letters, final exams, holiday services, end-of-year performances, or food, toy, and clothing drives.
You could also be organizing office parties or social events to express gratitude to your team and bring the year to a festive end.
On the surface, there is nothing wrong with any of these activities. Many, if not most, are essential to your organization. (Remember: Culture and community aren’t “extra.”)
Yet in practice, December can be a month of burnout and bottlenecks.
The core problem—and a key source of stress—lies in entering a period of excess without creating space for it first.
How I make room for December
Over the past several years, I’ve instinctively fallen into a new rhythm during the final weeks of December: a state of mind that extends from my professional life to my life outside of work.
The visual evidence appears in many places: my calendar, my to-do lists, and even my refrigerator.
I’ve come to think of this time as my “clear the decks” period. Or, more bluntly, “it’s enough month.”
It is a period of intentional avoidance—at times, even stubborn refusal—to add anything new to my life unless it is absolutely essential.
Some of this mentality is rooted in my personal circumstances. Our family typically decamps to Berlin over the holidays. For the weeks leading up to our departure, I ruthlessly meal plan in order to use up any perishables, and I avoid buying any groceries that won’t be consumed prior to our departure. Everything else is frozen, awaiting a clear purpose in January.
The process involves a combination of culinary creativity, new recipes, and substitution experiments. My family’s annoyance at random food shortages is ameliorated by a robust supply of Christmas cookies, which seem to appear without warning.
Beyond the kitchen, I triage my open tasks into two categories: finish now, or deliberately defer until 2026. The deferral isn’t a last resort the day before my vacation, but rather starts early in the month, allowing me, my clients, and my collaborators to plan.
Like my fridge cleanout and freezer stockup, I don’t allow myself to add anything but the most essential and time-sensitive tasks to my to-do list during this period. Everything else goes on a running list that I keep on the first page of my 2026 planner.
(And in many cases, these tasks no longer seem to be so essential once the new year begins.)
While most people associate decluttering and clearing space with the month of January and resolutions for the New Year, I find this work to be essential to my December planning.
Creating space in your organization
This isn’t just personal productivity—it’s a leadership practice with cascading effects.
When you model boundary-setting and strategic deferral, you give your team permission to do the same.
When you tell a client in mid-December that you’ll tackle a project in January, you’re not creating a barrier—you’re ensuring they get your best work, not your depleted attention.
You demonstrate to your stakeholders that sustainable pace is a professional value, not a luxury.
Final thoughts
As you head into these final weeks of the year, when so much is being added to your plate—both figuratively and literally—take some time to create space and clear away the nonessentials.
In some cases, it might involve completing a series of small but nagging tasks. In other cases, you may need to recognize that a project won’t make much progress before the new year, and should simply be deferred until then.
Don’t wait until your last day at your desk: start today. Starting this process a week or two before the holidays offers a psychologically meaningful difference—akin to using up the milk rather than letting it spoil in the fridge while you’re out of town.
Do it for yourself, your colleagues, collaborators, clients, and stakeholders. Your January self—and your team—will thank you. And you might actually be able to enjoy December.
P.S. This advice holds for any other time of year that may be “crunch time” in your sector—for example, a recurring annual conference or a grant deadline.
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