December at work can mean tinsel on every surface, music in the kitchen, flashing lights, team lunches and a party or two. Plenty of people love it. For people who process sensory information differently, including many autistic people and people with ADHD, it can also mean weeks of extra noise, light and social demands that leave them exhausted before the break has even started.
Sensory overload happens when there’s more input than you can comfortably process. Below are practical ways to reduce it over the festive season, first for individuals and then for employers.
If you experience sensory overload
Plan breaks before you need them
Short, regular breaks work better than waiting until you’re overwhelmed. Step outside, find a quiet room or take a short walk. Put them in your calendar so they actually happen.
Cut the noise
Noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs can make a busy office far more manageable. If music is playing in a shared work area, it’s reasonable to ask for it to be turned down or switched off.
Find a lower-stimulation spot
If the office is heavily decorated, see whether you can work from a quieter corner or a meeting room, or from home on the busiest days if your role allows. Keep your own desk as plain as you like. Nobody has to decorate.
Pace the social side
You don’t have to go to every event or stay for the whole of one. Arriving early before it gets loud, leaving after the meal or skipping the after-party are all fine choices. Secret Santa and gift opening can be a lot too, and it’s perfectly fine to open presents later somewhere quieter.
Wear what feels comfortable
Christmas jumper days and party outfits can mean scratchy fabrics and tight fits. Choose clothes that feel good on your skin. Comfortable and professional aren’t opposites.
Tell someone what helps
If you feel comfortable doing so, let your manager know what would make December easier, whether that’s a quiet space, flexibility over events or a heads-up before the decorations go up. Our guide to the Christmas holidays for autistic adults has more ideas for the time away from work too.
If you’re an employer or manager
Most of these fixes cost little or nothing. Ask your team what would help rather than guessing, and consider:
- keeping decorations and music to communal areas rather than desks and meeting rooms
- protecting at least one quiet room throughout December
- making festive events genuinely optional, with no pressure to stay late
- sharing event plans, timings and venues well in advance
Our guide to planning a neuro-inclusive office Christmas party goes into more detail, and how open-plan offices fail autistic employees makes the case for quiet space all year round.
If an employee tells you sensory overload is affecting their work, treat it as a request for reasonable adjustments. ACAS explains when the legal duty to make reasonable adjustments applies.
How Enna can help
Sensory needs don’t disappear in January. A workplace needs assessment identifies the environmental changes that help an individual all year, while our neuroinclusion audits look at your workplace as a whole, from office layout to how events are run. To build understanding across your team, Neurodiversity 101 training is a good starting point, or book a call with the Enna team to talk it through.
