Did you have a good Christmas/New-Year break? I did thank you, I was at the office for most of it. Well, I say I was in the office, but there wasn’t much to do, so I had to fill my time by going to the pub, popping into the sales, and meeting up with friends.

I know it’s a bit early to be planning these things, but take my advice, next year put your name down to work between Christmas and the new year.

Here’s why:

1. You get brownie points. Your rich colleagues will want to go skiing, and the rest will want to spend time with their families. They will actually THANK YOU for offering to man the pumps.

2. You can impress clients. Put in a few business calls during the festive break, (it only takes a couple of minutes, as no one wants to talk) as it will give you clients and contacts the impression that you are a workaholic.

3. You can do some spying. The office is deserted. Now is the time to hunt through a few drawers you’ve always been curious about.

4. You can drink at work. In fact it’s positively encouraged during the Christmas week. Hell, if the office is really empty you can smoke too! Just watch out for those smoke alarms.

5. You get paid for doing nothing. Although in my case, I got paid for drinking, shopping and watching TV. A bonus as the TV in the office is much bigger than the one at home.