Racheline and I are recovering from an all-nighter of being insanely productive in Philadelphia, and now we’re taking advantage of the lull of the holidays (before, of course, the rush of the holidays) to get stuff done.

Of course there will be days this week when we can’t do much work. There’s family and friends to see and food to cook and The Hobbit to watch (although I think that one might just be me). But just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean we’re going to stop doing work.

It can be hard to fit in Things when there are a million chores and family obligations to attend to. And sometimes at the end of a busy night I just need to sit with my cats and stare at the wall. But there are actually no days off. There are days of getting up half an hour early to check the notes we left each other on the project we’re hoping to finish before the new year, of writing in the passenger seat of a car and of breaking stories in email via phone — with every email an hour after the last one, because I’m playing video games with my cousins.

But it’s okay to take breaks from the crush of everything, both the work and the festivities. Family takes work, whether you like them or not. It’s okay to take time from all of that — both from the family to get a bit of something done for yourself, or even just to catch your breath, and from the work, to recharge and enjoy whatever brings you joy in this season.

There’s never enough hours in a day to get everything done we need or want to, and the holidays just mean there are more things we’re trying to fit into the same amount of hours. So tell us in the comments how you cope with the season, and we wish everyone the very best of luck with work and celebration alike.