The 5 Biggest Work-Related Thanksgiving Stressors (And How To Avoid Them)

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The 5 Biggest Work-Related Thanksgiving Stressors (And How To Avoid Them)

1:30 pm, November 16th | by Sarah Devlin

Thanksgiving is one of the greatest holidays ever invented: there are no gifts, no sky-high (and inevitably disappointing) expectations, just permission from the whole country to spend a day eating great food, hanging out with your family, and napping. It’s the best. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stressors — particularly work related — that surround the holiday and can interfere with all the napping. Here are five common work-related obstacles to a perfect holiday, and how you can avoid them.

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1.1. Getting the time off

It's tempting to try to take off more than a couple of days at Thanksgiving — travel is difficult and it's hard to focus in the abbreviated week beforehand. But rest assured, take too much time off and you will be facing a mountain of work on Monday. Do yourself a favor and save your days off for Christmas (when you and your sanity will need all the help they can get).

2.2. Taking work on the plane

Don't you dare slack off on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to Thanksgiving, thinking that you'll "catch up on work on the plane." What you'll end up doing instead is ordering a gin and tonic and feeling uncomfortable as you watch "The Lucky One" while the 90-year-old man next to you keeps looking furtively and disapprovingly over at the screen. This happened to a friend.

3.3. Drinking while emailing

There's a lot of drinking that occurs on Thanksgiving, and you're on vacation, so the normal rules about the acceptable time of day to start are temporarily suspended. Here's a quick test to figure out whether or not you should respond to that email:

1. Are you reading the screen on your computer/phone with one eye, Y/N

2. Is there a glass of wine in your hand right now, Y/N

3. Is every sentence you type concluded with three or more exclamation points and/or emoji, Y/N

If you answered "Yes" to one or more, DO NOT SEND THAT EMAIL. Take a nap.

4.4. Leftover stealing

This is a crime that can be perpetrated by family members and coworkers alike, and can only be avoided by zealously labeling your food and watching the office fridge the week after Thanksgiving like a lioness watches its prey. No one will fault you for this; in fact, people will probably respect you more for having the courage to rage against this heinous and underreported crime.

5.5. Explaining your job to your old high school classmates at the bar

It's Wednesday night, you're exhausted from traveling and talking to your old biology lab partner, when they say "I didn't know you could make any money blogging/being a librarian/working in a lab/teaching preschool." Just pretend you didn't hear them and order a Jagerbomb. This also works for "That's nice — are you seeing anyone?"