Ah, the holidays. I love everything about it, except the extra stress I find myself coping with. Finding the perfect gift, planning and preparing festive foods, parties, children’s programs, school activities, extended family visits and year end work wrap-ups leave me wondering where the days go (even more than normal) and feeling drained once the holidays are over. I have vowed this year to do things differently and live the holidays a little more essentially and less by obligation.
Although many of us feel stress throughout the year, the holidays can impose a higher risk for acute stress. We experience stress from being spread too thin, from family interactions that start politely yet end in fighting and the stress of paying for all the gifts we think we need to purchase. We can even feel stressed with all the extra food and drinks we consume causing the scale to creep up and clothes to fit snugly.
According to a 2015 survey conducted by Healthline, 62% of respondants reported their stress level as “very or somewhat elevated during the holidays.” Only 10% of those surveyed said they don’t have any stress during the holidays. In fact, in another more recent study of 2,000 Americans, 88% feel stressed when celebrating the holidays and reports couples will have on average 7 arguments. This data, while not shocking is rather sad when the true meaning of the season has nothing to do with gifts, parties or eating.
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If you are unhappy with the stress you are under or how you feel at the end of the holidays and desire to start January thriving vs recovering start with a few simple adjustments to your usual routine.
Check out these 5 simple tricks to make your holidays a little brighter without all the extra stress.
- Leave at least 1-2 nights each week during the holiday season free in the evening
- You know how it goes, a friend invites you to grab drinks, there is a school or church event, your boss needs one more project competed before year end and you have a holiday party you want to attend. For your sanity and the sanity of your family, schedule 1-2 nights each week where you don’t book anything. No work, no parties, no shopping, no activities. You just stay at home and hang out with the family. Plan a holiday movie night, make cookies together, relax by the fire and play board games. The idea is that if you schedule days that you are unavailable in advance you will be less tempted to say yes to other non-essential requests. I mean really you can go to dinner with a friend in January and not feel pressured to squeeze it in. We often feel obligated to say “yes” to things during the holidays but not everything has to be done, prioritize what is most essential and reschedule everything else.
- Set your Christmas gift budget and get out cash
- Ok, for all of you rolling your eyes, hear me out. 44% of shoppers rack up more than $1,000 in credit card debt during the holidays according to a survey from Magnify Money and it can take months to pay that off. Write down a reasonable budget for each person you want to buy for and pull the total out in cash. Put the money in an envelope and check off your list. Once the money is gone your shopping is done. It is so easy to “grab just one more thing” and pretty soon you have blown your holiday budget and then the stress of how much you have spent takes it toll. I promise you that if you can’t buy for all 55 of your friends/teachers/family they will survive…honestly they might feel the same way and appreciate not doing gifts. Do a game night in instead.
- Start each day with gratitude
- We have long known the benefits of gratitude, but combating holiday stress with this positive practice is even more important. Start each day by writing down 3 things you are most thankful for or write a card to someone who has made an impact on your life. That’s the best gift you could ever give and your mental health will benefit.
- Build in buffers
- Think it will take you 10 minutes to get to work (cause it took you that long one time) give yourself 15-20 minutes. Need to get your child to their school program, build in a buffer by telling them they need to be ready 20 minutes before you actually need to leave. Building buffers in our day immediately takes the stress off because we are no longer rushing. Don’t think you have time to build in buffers because your schedule is jam packed, re-evaluate what you have planned. What is essential on a given day and go from there?
- Block out time on your calendar daily for movement
- One of the best ways to beat stress year round is through movement, but during the holidays daily movement may take a backseat. Schedule time on your calendar as you would a haircut or meeting and block it as ME time. Even if you can only swing 5-10 minutes at a time, schedule it. Go for a walk, take a couple flights of stairs, do chair squats. Movement not only counters the effects of holiday food and drink, it is has been proven to improve creativity and problem solving and causes a release of hormones that evoke positive feelings.
Start planning right now for how your holidays will be different this year and make this the one you will remember for how calm, collected and organized you feel. Bonus: You can watch smugly while others run around you with their hair on fire and complain about how stressed they are.
May you be blessed this holiday season!
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