When the end of the year becomes a high-risk period

It's 5:42 p.m. on a Tuesday in November. In the gray open-plan office lit by neon lights that are a little too bright, Julie, a project manager, closes her eyes for a few seconds. She knows that the latest email marked "URGENT, before the holidays" isn't really urgent. But it will be one of the things she has to finish. On her agenda for the day: budget arbitration, two scoping meetings, tension between two teams to be pacified, a client who "absolutely wants to finalize before Christmas." And this feeling, growing stronger and stronger, of being in apnea.

‍

You can picture the scene perfectly. You hear it in the hallways. You sometimes experience it yourself. Every year, November and December take the form of a narrow tunnel, where teams move forward, compressing their energy, with the impression that work is filling up faster than batteries can recharge.

‍

For HR and QWL managers, this period is fraught with risk factors: accumulated physical fatigue, latent relational tensions, widespread hyperconnectivity, artificial deadlines, managerial pressure, organizational noise, and even last-minute strategic decisions.

‍

In other words, it's not just a busy period. It's a time that is structurally conducive to mental overload at work. And contrary to popular belief, overload is not just about "more tasks." It's a combination of invisible responsibilities, uncertainties, simultaneous demands, and micro-irritants that saturate cognitive and emotional capacities.

‍

According to the CMVRH barometer, 71% of female employees report high mental stress, a trend that intensifies at the end of the year, when work combines with increased personal logistical demands. Ouest-France also points out thatone in two women consider the holiday season to be a source of additional stress, exacerbating emotional fatigue. La Croix also points out that absenteeism regularly peaks around December and January, largely fueled by accumulated mental fatigue.

‍

The context therefore automatically creates overload. But the organization can certainly limit its effects.

This article offers you: a detailed analysis based on occupational psychology, enriched with practical examples, and focused on realistic actions that HR departments can take immediately to protect their teams, without endless lists, unrealistic demands, or disconnected theories. Just pragmatism, clarity, and a deeply human approach.

‍

Why mental load skyrockets during this period

The false urgency generated by the organization

From All Saints' Day onwards, a silent dynamic takes hold: everything must be done "before the holidays." Deliverables, projects, approvals, decisions... This time pressure is rarely justified, but it becomes a powerful collective driving force.

In occupational psychology, we talk about organizational load: this is the way in which the organization structures priorities, workflows, constraints, and... illusions of urgency.

‍

A typical example:
In an industrial company, the marketing and sales teams kept sending each other requests to be finalized "before Christmas," even though the product launch was scheduled for February. The result: unnecessary overload, tension, hyper-reactivity, and errors.
When management simply moved the "real" deadline to mid-January and made it clear, tension dropped by 40% (internal assessment).

‍

This type of invisible overload is often more exhausting than the actual volume of work.

Accumulated physiological fatigue

After ten months of managing demands, emergencies, meetings, unexpected events, and objectives, attention resources diminish. Stress tolerance decreases. Subtle signs of exhaustion increase: irritability, careless mistakes, difficulty concentrating, or feeling slower.

‍

In April, an unexpected event passes. In December, it triggers emotional overload. The risk is not a decline in skills, but a decline in adaptability.

Relationship tensions resurface

Small, unspoken frictions become major irritants. A harmless remark seems aggressive. Silence seems accusatory. A neutral meeting turns into a battlefield. Teams become tired, communication becomes less fluid, and interpretation takes precedence over information.

In these moments, it's not so much the case itself that is exhausting: it's the relational energy that must be mobilized to move it forward in a tense climate.

Anticipatory mental load

The end of the year is also a time for strategic decisions: budgets, reorganizations, project resizing, projections for 2026. Even when no information is officially communicated, teams anticipate. The brain imagines scenarios, interprets signals, or makes assumptions.

This is referred to as anticipatory stress, one of the most exhausting types of stress because it is based on what might happen, not on what is actually happening.

Amplified hyperconnectivity

Late messages are piling up, notifications are popping up, Teams/Slack channels are buzzing. We "stay available," sometimes late, to "get ready for the holidays."

This digital hypervigilance leads to increased cortisol levels, reduced restorative sleep, and decreased emotional recovery abilities.

This is not a matter of comfort. It is a major factor in psychological exhaustion.

‍

How to reduce mental load: the most effective HR strategy

Making priorities clear: the 1-3-1 method

An organization where everything is a priority automatically leads to mental overload. The first step for HR is to clarify what is really expected.

The following method works remarkably well at the end of the year:

Method 1-3-1:

• 1 top priority to complete before the holidays

• 3 important but non-urgent tasks

• 1 element that explicitly falls outside the scope (and does not need to be processed)

This framework provides direction. It reduces tensions between teams. It protects focus. And it creates a rare form of cognitive tranquility.

Restoring information hygiene

Mental overload stems as much from the flow of information as from the tasks themselves. At the end of the year, messages multiply, duplicates are repeated, and validations overlap.

An extremely protective HR measure is to reiterate a simple communication framework:

• Dedicated channel by type of information (Teams for operational matters, email for approvals, etc.)

• Time rules (no late submissions except in cases of genuine emergency)

• Deletion of unnecessary copies

• Messages that are shorter, clearer, and more action-oriented

It's not extra bureaucracy: it's cognitive protection.

Perform an express mental load assessment (48 hours)

A short, well-conducted assessment allows you to immediately adjust the workload of your teams. It is based on one simple thing: the actual perception of employees.

Three questions are enough:

• What takes up most of your energy today?

• What could be lightened by Friday?

• What would reassure you for the next two weeks?

When done sincerely, this mini-diagnosis allows critical irritants to be identified and resolved very quickly. Many organizations underestimate its power.

Rethinking meetings to make them more protective

In November and December, meetings skyrocket. The role of HR is not to eliminate them, but to make them useful. A simple principle applies: Any meeting without an explicit objective generates mental load.

Some companies are switching to 25- or 45-minute meetings, while others are introducing standing meetings for quick updates. Some require a preparatory document to be shared 24 hours in advance to avoid vague meetings.

The goal is not to control, but to protect the mental time of teams.

Strengthen managerial support

Managers are the buffer zone between teams and the organization. When they are tired, teams become exhausted. When they are supported, teams can breathe easy.

HR can:

• Offer them a confidential space to express the pressure they are under.

• Help them prioritize

• Supporting them in the face of conflicting demands

• Provide them with tools to identify weak signals

A manager who receives support is always better able to protect their team... It's a mathematical fact!

Dealing with everyday irritants with a “flash workshop”

A minor irritant becomes exhausting when it happens 20 times a day: a buggy tool, an unnecessary process, an overly complex table, duplicate reporting.

‍

A 40-minute workshop is sufficient:

1. Each employee notes the most mentally costly irritants.

2. The team chooses two to solve immediately.

3. Management will approve within 48 hours.

Guaranteed impact.

‍

Supporting an employee experiencing excessive workload: the Pros-Consulte protocol

Individual support is based on three pillars.

Speak freely without intrusion

Employees do not spontaneously express their mental overload. The question "Are you okay?" does not open up anything. The wording that works is: "I feel like this is a difficult period. Would you like to talk about it for a few minutes?" It does not oblige or infantilize, and immediately reduces tension.

Understanding the real signs of mental overload

The signs are almost never demotivation.
They are signs of exhaustion:

• Unusual errors

• Agitation or slowing down

• Irritability

• Confusion

• Attention lapses

• Feeling of sudden overflow

These signs should be interpreted as warnings to protect, not as professional misconduct.

Regulate immediately: the 48-hour method

An effective HR protocol includes:

• Clarification of a single priority

• Removal of a non-essential task

• Creation of a protective buffer (less demands, fewer meetings)

• A real break (not just "taking a quick breather")

• Daily micro-point stabilization

In two or three days, the effect is spectacular.

When stress becomes chronic, emotional tensions persist, or a manager is experiencing difficulties themselves, consulting an occupational psychologist allows for deeper, more neutral, and secure regulation.

Restoring a peaceful atmosphere at the end of the year

Restoring visibility to reduce anticipatory burden

Employees need to understand:

• What really matters,

• What can wait,

• How decisions are made,

• Where is the organization headed?

Visibility is not a luxury. It is a collective anxiolytic.

Practice factual recognition

Not standardised thanks. The recognition that protects is that which precisely describes the effort observed and its impact. Example: "The way you handled the inter-team conflict on Monday prevented a significant delay. Thank you."

An employee who feels recognised experiences less anticipatory tension and less relational stress.

Truly encouraging disconnection

In this regard, management must set an example. Rules are meaningless if managers send messages late. An organization that respects personal time automatically reduces:

• Cognitive hyperactivations,

• Relationship fatigue,

• Latent exhaustion.

It's simple, yet still rare.

Prepare for January with clarity: protect the coming year

To prevent the overload from spilling over into January-February, HR can take the following steps now:

• Establish a realistic, not idealistic, workload plan;

• Simplify certain processes before the recovery;

• Improve managers' skills in recognizing weak signals;

• Launch a targeted social barometer ;

• Clarify the QVCT roadmap for 2026;

• Identify the risk periods for next year.

Anticipating, in this case, protects as much as it regulates.

‍

Conclusion: Mental health at the end of the year is not a bonus

November and December don't have to be synonymous with exhaustion. Mental overload is not inevitable. With a few key adjustments, such as clear priorities, support for managers, information hygiene, individual regulation, and factual recognition, it is possible to help teams enjoy a truly more peaceful end to the year.

Protecting mental health is not an added bonus. It is a prerequisite for sustainable performance, peaceful cooperation, a strong organizational climate, and committed teams.

Need to support your teams during this sensitive period?

Our occupational psychologists provide services in prevention, managerial support, regulation, and individual coaching.

Pleasecontact us for a confidential discussion.