“Take a Break Over Christmas and Come Back Refreshed”
On the surface, it sounds nice. It always does, doesn’t it?
“Take a break. Recharge. Spend time with family. Come back refreshed and ready to go.”
Software developers don’t hear sentences in isolation, particularly when spoken in a corporate environment. We know we need to listen to messages in context.
My particular context is:
A takeover
New leadership
New priorities
New spreadsheets full of job titles
This isn’t a wellness message. It never is, is it?
Bad News?
Big companies don’t do uncertainty in public. They do it quietly, behind calendars and holidays.
Christmas is a case in point because:
People are distracted
HR is “out”
Decisions can be made while nobody is around to ask questions
Take a break actually really means:
We don’t have answers yet
We don’t want questions right now
January will be… eventful
If you’ve worked in tech long enough, you’ve learned that nothing structural ever happens in December. It happens in January. I’m buckled up to view a corporate PowerPoint.
Subtext
This is the same skill set we use to read Jira tickets.
You know the skill
“Small refactor”
= rewrite half the system. Or do nothing at all. It’s impossible to tell the difference between these two modes.
“Quick change”
= a surprise architecture meeting
“Just align with the new direction”
= throw away your last six months of work
So when management says:
“Come back refreshed”
Developers hear.
“Come back compliant”
“Come back ready”
“You’re not prepared for this, but don’t worry (yet”
Refreshed into Irrelevance
Here’s the quiet anxiety nobody says out loud.
What if I come back refreshed…
and my role no longer exists?
Takeovers love phrases like:
“Synergies”
“Duplication of effort”
“Operating model”
Which roughly translate to:
Two people doing one job
One of them won’t be doing it much longer
And developers know that code quality, domain knowledge, and history don’t always survive contact with spreadsheets.
You Should Take the Break
Here’s the annoying part.
You should actually take the break.
Not because the company cares about your well-being. But because you need a clear head.
January is when:
Org charts appear
New managers arrive
“Discovery phases” start
Your calendar fills with meetings that explain nothing
Burned-out developers don’t spot warning signs early.
Rested developers do.
And if things go sideways, you will want the following.
Energy
Perspective
A LinkedIn profile that isn’t updated in a blind panic
The Real Test
“Take a Break Over Christmas and Come Back Refreshed” isn’t about rest.
It’s about how you react next.
You’ll need a clear head for that. Do you.
Nod along?
Ask questions?
Push back?
Start quietly preparing?
The developers who survive reorganizations aren’t the loudest or the quietest.
They’re the ones who understand what’s actually happening.
And they don’t figure that out when exhausted. Much like coding, resolving complex life questions when exhausted is difficult.
Final thought
“Take a break over Christmas and come back refreshed” is not a threat.
It is a signal.
A signal that something is changing.
A signal that uncertainty is coming.
A signal to rest, not relax.
Enjoy the holidays. Eat too much. Sleep.
I’m not going to confuse language with safety though.
January remembers everything December pretends not to know.
About The Author
Professional Software Developer “The Secret Developer” can be found on Twitter @TheSDeveloper.
The Secret Developer has learned that when management says “don’t worry”, it’s time to start paying attention. By brutal experience.