I know we haven't even set back the clocks yet, but I fear it is time to start thinking about Christmas. Not the fun part, either. More along the lines of "How do I hold everything together in a business sense during December?". Your self-management, of course, needs to include breaking in your new party shoes so you're not crying with pain by 9.10pm at the office do; ensuring you have copious amounts of Resolve in your top desk drawer for you/boss/colleagues; and booking a day's holiday to get done all the Christmas shopping you swore blind last December would be done by August Bank Holiday ("M&S, Christmas Eve, 5pm. Not clever, not funny, never again").

• It's on the cards!
  Christmas cards. If you haven't already ordered them, you'll need to get your skates on. If you have to consult several people about design and greeting, that in itself can take a couple of weeks. At least while the managers are squabbling about whether or not to have the drunken Santa cartoon, you can be gathering the info for the mailing list. If you have one from last year, use that as your basis and get people to update it. It's a complete waste of money to keep sending cards to clients for sentimental reasons and it looks very unprofessional, too. If you have a long-standing business relationship with another company and you simply haven't done business with them for a while, fine - send the card and keep up all links. But if it's a previous client who last spoke to someone in your offices in 1998, it's time to let them go. It's also very embarrassing to send a card to someone who left the client firm 4 years ago or who has died.



• A bash to end all bashes
  If you are the lucky, lucky person who gets to sort out the Christmas do, now is the time to book the venue and to begin to circulate the date. Some workmates will be groaning about being barely back from the holiday before being asked to choose their main course for the do, but it's not them who'll be lying awake at night sweating about it. It'll be you. Accept the fact now that not everyone will want to come, not everyone will be able to make the date, and not everyone will like the food or entertainment. The spirit of the evening should be about dispelling the gloom of midwinter, and building social bonds within the organisation. In the bigger scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if the DJ plays "Brown Sugar" twice or the desserts are a bit on the small side.



• Make it a date
  Although I would hope by now that we would all be using paperless diary systems and be completely au fait with our Palm Pilots and BlackBerrys, I fear it is not the case. If you are still paperbound, broadcast email the diary choices to everyone and give them a deadline for a response. Don't be shy to chivvy them. It's a diary they're choosing, not the software for the NASA space programme.



• Cover me!
  A lot of organisations close now between Christmas and New Year. I guess as more and more staff wanted leave, it struck companies that they would save money on heating and lighting by shutting up shop for the week. And to be honest, how many of you did a stroke of work when you went back in on December 27? By the time you have found the words to describe the taste of the liqueur chocolates that your sister-in-law bought you, it was time to go out and eat. There was no point in rushing because no-one very much was in, so it was 2.15pm by the time you got back. Couple of cups of coffee, good laugh over Office Manager's description of her first attempt at cooking a goose, and it was home time.
  
  However, there are some companies hanging on like grim death who need staff in between 27 and 31 December. If you work for one of those, then consider whether everyone needs to be in. If you are in an industry where it is a busy time of year, then the answer may be a resounding "Yes!". If most of your decision makers and department heads are going to be away, is it possible to organise a rota so that, perhaps, two PAs come in per day? You can offer adequate cover for the skeleton staff without everyone trogging in to their desks.



• Ease yourself back in
  Think about something social for the first week back. I know it's counter-intuitive – who's going to want to eat and drink more right now? – but something to help pull you all through the first days and ease you back into the world of work is helpful. Doesn't have to be a big deal, just make sure the menu has a wide choice to accommodate those dieting. Also consider those colleagues who may not have had such a great break. If they don't have a ready network of family or friends with whom to spend the holidays, they may have had a rather lonely time of it. A bit of a do in January could help them feel part of the group again. Similarly, colleagues who don't celebrate Christmas may not have been on the party circuit. Something focused on you as a group and a team rather than on a religious holiday can help get everyone refocused on the business task at hand.

I know you may be reading this before you have even put away the Factor 60, but as any good PA knows: fail to plan, plan to fail.