CHRISTMAS cheer aside, December is officially the slackest yet most stressful month of the year at work.

Adelaide wellness and resilience expert Gina Brooks tells the Sunday Mail productivity levels can drop by almost 40 per cent in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

“At the same time, workers report an increase in stress levels of 66 per cent,” she says.

Ms Brooks, who runs training provider Training x Design, says workplace studies consistently show productivity dips as stress levels rise.

“As Christmas approaches, it is not just work that people have to worry about but all the personal stuff as well — getting gifts bought, preparing for Christmas Day,” she says.

“Often, there are less people in the office doing the work as many people take early holidays to coincide with the end of school.

“(And) amid all the busyness and Christmas parties, people tend not to eat as well or exercise as much as they normally do, so this doesn’t help either.

“It all goes together … stress goes up, so productivity goes down.”

Workskil Australia’s Liana Reinhardt agrees the festive season can be an unusually stressful time in the workplace.

“Workloads can increase significantly as key customer orders or urgent requirements

need to be finalised before the Christmas break (and) this can add significant additional stress,” says the national people manager of the not-for-profit employment service.

“This is also a time when many people are facing additional pressures in their

personal lives around Christmas planning and end-of-school activities.

“It can be very hard to leave these personal life pressures at the work door and

anxiety and depression are common during the festive season.”

According to the South Australian Mental Health Commission, 19,000 weeks are lost every year in this state due to mental health-related compensation claims.

Last year’s State of Workplace Mental Health in Australia study found one in five Australians took time off work in the previous 12 months because they felt mentally unwell, and only 52 per cent of workers believed their workplace was mentally healthy.

Ms Brooks who works with local business to boost performance believes the key to improving output in December is increasing workplace flexibility.

“If people are physically and mentally well at work, they will perform at their best — (and are) 30 per cent more productive,” she says.

Planning is also important.

“The core thing is for the team to get together from December 1 and plan — who is going to be away; what events have (team members) got coming up; what are our priorities?” she says.

Ms Brooks suggests setting synchronised “block out times” during the day where the focus is on getting a priority task finished.

“These periods, lasting between 50 and 60 minutes, should be about focusing on a single thing … without the disruption of meetings, phone calls or emails,” she says.

And, advises Ms Reinhardt, don’t lose sight of the Christmas spirit.

“Above all, be kind to your work colleagues and try to be as understanding as you

can of other people’s situations. You never know what personal issues they are dealing with outside of work at this busy time of year.”