Do you have dreams of perfectly accomplished decorations at home, desserts and cookies baked, gifts purchased and wrapped
beautifully, meals deliciously cooked, family and friend gatherings planned? Have you agreed to attend all the holiday parties and gatherings? All this on top of the regular, normal life happenings like work, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the family, paying bills, car maintenance, doctor appointments, and so on.
Yes, it is the season for so many things… especially exhaustion and burnout if we are not careful. Tackling all of it leaves no time for you to rest and rejuvenate.
According to a Verywell survey taken in October of this year, 75% of the 4,000 participants are concerned overall about the holidays. The concerns run from being able to afford the holiday expenses like travel and gifts to getting sick from COVID-19 to shipping delays and supply shortages, and they continue to mental health, getting along with loved ones, travel restrictions, and loneliness. Wow, those are quite a lot of concerns and they are all valid.
So, what can you do to stop the cycle of ever increasing holiday stress?
It is important, first and foremost, to stop and take a few deep breaths. When you take these deep breaths it sends a message to your brain to relax and to calm down. With this the brain knows wha your body needs to receive so it communicates the same message and your body can begin to relax.
The next thing you can do to help yourself is to create a list of all the things you need to do, want to do, hope to do and so on. Then take a good long look at the list and highlight the things that MUST happen (like go to work each day, pay your bills, sleep, manage the daily household business, etc.). Then, in a different color, highlight the items that are important for your holiday celebration. This may be trickier than you realize. Be highly selective in this step realizing not everything is important. For instance, many years ago, I was a single mom and had too much on my plate and not enough money for everything I wanted to do. I had to eliminate something. So, I chose to stop sending Christmas cards to everyone. That was a hard choice at that time but it saved me a lot of time and a lot of money!
We need to remember that everything is not important to do at the holidays, despite the fact that you may have always done them or others expect them. You do have a CHOICE.
With the “Musts” and “Importants” highlighted, anything else on the list can be eliminated. Getting these things accomplished will help you have down time for rest and rejuvenation.
There are many more ways to eliminate the holiday crazies and high stress levels, yet if you start with these two things you will begin to enjoy the holidays and reduce your stress levels.
If you find it challenging to adjust your stress level, whether it is now in the holiday rush or in life, reach out and let’s talk. I have helped many to reduce their stress and live more peacefully.
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