Surviving the “Silly Season” – What Does It Do to Your Sleep?

The Festive Season is here!

In New Zealand, late November to mid-January can be the busiest time of the year. It’s about celebrating, connecting, and indulging, and hopefully getting some much-needed rest and recuperation to reset for the coming year. It can also, however, be a period when we experience significantly higher levels of stress, with disrupted routines and less quality sleep than usual. 

KEY INSIGHTS

• From late November to mid-January, many New Zealanders experience a major lifestyle shift, with end-of-year parties, holidays, hot summer weather, and altered daily rhythms. This often results in irregular sleep schedules, later nights, and poorer sleep quality. Add summer heat, and restorative rest can be harder to achieve.

• Overeating, excessive alcohol intake, financial pressures, social obligations, and general stress all interfere with good-quality sleep. Even positive excitement triggers stress hormones that can delay relaxation and sleep onset.

• Maintaining a balanced routine (consistent sleep and wake times, moderate eating and drinking, regular exercise, stress management, and staying cool at night) helps minimise the festive season’s toll. 

• Sleep hygiene practices or snoring cures such as ApneaRx can support better breathing and rest, especially for those who snore or have sleep apnea.

End-of-year workplace parties. End of school year celebrations. Annual get-togethers with friends and family. Christmas. The strange, quiet period between December 26^th and January 1, when you never quite know for sure what day it is. New Year’s Eve. Summer holidays and vacations.  

The pace of everyday life is dramatically different for so many of us at this time of the year. Add summer heat to the equation, and your sleep can suffer significantly.

What is the “Silly” Season in NZ?

This colloquial term is widely used to describe the period surrounding Christmas and New Year. In NZ, it begins around the end of November and extends until early to mid-January.

This time presents great opportunities to socially catch up and celebrate the end of another year, ring in a new year, and hopefully unwind, recharge, and reset for the coming 12 months. You’ll understandably want to enjoy every moment: festive shopping and gift-giving, going on holidays, eating more, drinking more, staying up late, sleeping in, and napping in the afternoon.

The flip side of this period is that it’s common to experience higher levels of stress. Not only is excitement a physiological form of stress, but we also need to navigate an array of less pleasant sources of stress: family, social, or workplace obligations that aren’t always welcome, busy end-of-year work schedules, financial worries, holiday traffic and crowds, and hot weather. A lot of us feel obliged by the fact that it’s the “happiest time of the year” – but may feel anything but. It can be both overwhelming and exhausting. 

Even at its best, the Silly Season can wreak havoc on your health and sense of well-being. Sleep quality is just one of these.  

How Does the Festive Season Impact Sleep?

Optimal health and well-being rely on good quality sleep every night. Indeed, an occasional late night or night of interrupted sleep isn’t generally harmful; however, a regularly disrupted sleep schedule and/or poor-quality sleep will take a toll. 

Many aspects of the Festive Season can be enemies of sleep:

• Disrupted sleep schedule. Late nights usually mean fewer hours of sleep – especially if your natural body clock makes you an early bird. While you can, in theory, make up for it by sleeping in or napping during the day, you’ll still pay a price when it’s time to go back to work, school, or your regular routine, and your sleeping pattern needs to re-adapt.

• Overindulgence. Eating and drinking are part and parcel of the Festive Season. Some of us look forward to the decadent foods and having a tipple – but overdoing it can leave you feeling sluggish, bloated, unwell, and cause you to sleep poorly. Even without a hangover (from overeating or over-imbibing), poor quality or not enough sleep can make you feel fatigued, headachy, and have trouble focusing and performing at your best. Alcohol also actively disrupts normal sleep cycles.

• Stress. Stress can be catastrophic for sleep. Even excitement, which is a “positive” form of stress, affects the body by releasing adrenaline and cortisol. Try to maintain sleep hygiene by winding down before bed each night. Read a book (don’t scroll on your phone!), take a warm bath, have a cup of chamomile tea or a glass of milk, or use a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow.

• Lack of exercise. Exercise is important for the mind and body, boosting physical health, helping maintain a healthy weight, and reducing the impact of stress. It’s also a great way to promote better quality sleep. Exercising is often neglected during the Silly Season – this is a mistake. 

• Heat and humidity. Summer can be uncomfortable in parts of NZ, and hot or humid weather does not support a good night’s sleep.

Does the Silly Season Affect Snoring?

It can. If you are a snorer or you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, you’ll quite possibly experience worsened symptoms at this time of year. Drinking too much alcohol, eating large meals, eating or drinking within a few hours of bedtime, and lack of exercise all actively contribute to snoring. Furthermore, a lot of people put on weight over the Christmas/New Year/holiday season – and this is a distinct risk factor for sleep apnea and snoring.

7. Tips to Optimise Your Sleep
8. Try to maintain your sleep schedule. If you can, get up at the same time each day and go to bed at the same time each night. Your sleeping patterns may trend later over the holidays, but you need to gradually reset back to your normal sleep schedule (over a week, ideally) before you need to return to your regular routine.

2. Indulge in Moderation. It’s important to balance your indulgence in food and drink. There is a lot you can do to make this easier:

• Have a healthy protein-rich snack and a large glass of water a home before you go out. 
• Don’t overfill your plate.
• Choose your favourite foods only and savour every mouthful. 
• Try to include some healthier choices alongside decadent options – e.g. non-creamy salads, fresh fruit.
• Limit excessively sugary treats and decline sugary sodas like cola.
• If you do drink alcohol, moderate intake and make lower-calorie choices, e.g. a glass of red wine rather than champagne; favour white spirits over dark; choose mid-strength beer; use soda as a mixer rather than tonic.
• Drink plenty of plain water (still or sparkling) between alcoholic beverages and limit caffeine intake.

3. Say hello to the power nap. Daytime napping is a time-honoured Christmas tradition, but letting yourself go into a “coma” during the day will seriously mess up your sleep at night. If you really need a nap, make it a power nap: nap no later than about 3-3.30 pm and set an alarm to make sure you don’t nap longer than 20-30 minutes.

4. Exercise. Work some activity you enjoy into your schedule. Walk on the beach, go for a swim, play a casual game of tennis, football, or cricket, work out at an air-conditioned gym, do some gardening, go for a bushwalk, or just stroll near your home. If it’s hot, do it early in the morning or in the evening.

5. Stay cool. The ideal sleeping temperature for most people is 18°C. Use cotton or linen sheets and pyjamas (or sleep naked). Keep a glass of water by the bed and hydrate sufficiently throughout the day. Use a fan in your bedroom, or an air conditioner if one is available. 

6. Prevent snoring and treat sleep apnea. If you snore or have sleep apnea, your sleep is already compromised. The ApneaRx sleep apnea mouthguard is one of the most effective snoring solutions in NZ and is approved in this country to help treat symptoms associated with sleep apnea. 

7. Give yourself a break. If you don’t love Christmas, family get-togethers, social gatherings, and parties, know that you are not alone. Introverts in particular can find social obligations and merry-making overwhelming. If you feel that you need to say “no”, do so.  Take time out to relax and enjoy your own company, or just spend quality time with your nearest and dearest.

Gift Yourself with Better Sleep 

Want to sleep better in 2026?

Use ApneaRx to say goodbye to snoring and hello to a healthier night’s sleep.

ApneaRx is the NZ brand of a highly effective snoring mouthpiece that is used successfully by people all over the world. Made in Australia, it is a patented and biomedically engineered medical-grade snoring solution that is worn in the mouth while you sleep. 

ApneaRx works by gently moving the lower jaw slightly forward; this helps to open the airways. It facilitates better airflow through the mouth and throat and prevents the soft tissue vibrations that cause snoring.  Are you ready to do yourself a favour? Purchase ApneaRx now.