Each year, on the last day before work officially resumes, I pop into the office to clear my desk. Something about the emptiness and the quietness allows me to, as I put away the detritus of the past year’s work, progressively bring myself to a place where I feel prepared to face the new work year. A large part of that is about trying to ease myself into the routine of work, acclimatising to my work space again after what usually has been two to three weeks of absence, and a food fuelled haze of sorts.

Speaking of food, this year’s Christmas silly season was a lot more muted than usual (read three gigs as opposed to the eight or so from a year ago); the impact of continued low oil prices, job losses and the prospect of a difficult 2016 not doing much to help the mood over the holidays. Not much could be said about the weather either, the 7’s and 10s we got over the period a far cry from the 3.5s and near zero’s we’ve had particularly over Christmas – all very not normal.

Three hours of filing, cleaning and shredding later, all that is left are the unread emails in my inbox; all 235 of them. I will have to hit the ground running tomorrow, but today I am cherishing the silence, savouring the peace and learning to breathe; before the next wave hits.