January Is Not a Reset Button

The “After the Holidays” Myth

Every HOA has heard it: “Let’s wait until after the holidays.”

It sounds reasonable. It feels calm. It is also how a small mailbox issue becomes a Q1 service spiral.

Q: Isn’t it smarter to wait until things slow down?
A: Not usually. “After the holidays” is when USPS, vendors, and boards are clearing backlogs. Waiting pushes your project into the busiest decision-and-scheduling window of the year.

What Actually Happens in January

Here’s what really happens in January:

• USPS and vendors are clearing post-holiday backlog.

• Residents are still traveling, especially snowbird-heavy communities.

• Wet weather and shorter daylight windows make site work harder.

• Your “minor” issue has now been stressed under peak volume for weeks.

Glossary: Post-Holiday Backlog
The surge of delayed installs, approvals, and service requests that hits in late December and January when peak-season volume clears and everyone finally schedules the work they postponed.

Q: Why does backlog matter if the issue is small?
A: Because “small” issues still require scheduling, parts, and crew time. Backlog doesn’t care about your problem size. It cares about queue order.

In Florida, January also has a quiet trick: it looks calmer on the calendar, but the days are shorter and the weather is more likely to interrupt site work. You’re competing with more projects in tighter windows.

Peak Season Doesn’t Heal Hardware

If a lock is sticky in late November, it will not improve after being used three times a day by stressed residents in December.

Glossary: Sticky Lock
A lock cylinder or mechanism that binds, resists turning, or fails to engage smoothly, often worsened by wear, misalignment, corrosion, or heavy use.

If numbering is faded now, it will not become more legible when carriers are rushing.

Glossary: Numbering Contrast
The visibility of unit numbers at speed and in low light. Poor contrast slows delivery and increases misdelivery risk during peak weeks.

And if parcel capacity is short during peak weeks, resident expectations do not magically lower because the calendar flipped.

Q: Can’t we just manage resident expectations until January?
A: You can try, but overflow turns into complaints fast when packages sit longer, lockers fill earlier, and carriers start leaving notices instead of delivering.

Late November Is Decision Season (For the Boards That Want Q1 Quiet)

The best boards treat late November as decision season:

• Approve the plan now.

• Stage parts and locker banks now.

• Schedule site work for the first clean install window you can actually get.

Glossary: Staging
Ordering and positioning equipment or parts ahead of installation so the project can move the moment a clean site window opens, instead of waiting on shipping and inventory.

Q: What’s the “clean install window” you keep talking about?
A: A week where crews are available, weather is workable, and you can complete the job without pausing midstream for delays, reschedules, or missing parts.

Waiting does not reduce the work. It just increases the cost of doing it under pressure.

And pressure is expensive.