Handling Holiday Stress
Every year the Holidays seem to arrive earlier. When I was growing up Thanksgiving was the beginning of the holidays--decorations going up, holiday shopping, and a visit to Grandma’s house. Now throw in holiday gatherings, sending greeting cards, baking cookies, company parties, work place secret Santa gifts along with numerous other holiday traditions, and my holiday to-do list needs an extra, extra-long sheet of paper. For many the holiday to-do list seems endless.
Today as I write this (November 17), I have already been overloaded with holiday e-mail, TV and radio gift giving advertisements. Some have even started well before Halloween. A level of stress, albeit subconscious, is coming over most of us ready to ramp up to a crescendo.
How quickly we find a handle for our stress can contribute to our overall health and well-being. Holidays are a BIG addition to our daily schedules and can create BIG stress.
So what can we do about stress. There is no simple or direct answer for everyone but here are some keys.
Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Plan! Plan! And Plan!
1) Take care of yourself first! If you get sick or allow the stress to continue, it will be a detriment to your short term and long term health. As I tell my clients, “It’s like the instructions from the flight attendant on an airplane. You need to put your air mask on first so that you will be ready to take care of others”. Or in this case, take care of other things you want to do.
Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Plan how these self-care activities can happen in your schedule and make them a number one priority. Setting a workout appointment with your (Sweat Equity) trainer is a perfect example of how you can stay on track.
2) Write a list. Amazingly, many people don’t write down their list. Or they only write down a portion-like their gift list. They let the thoughts of the list whir inside them instead, only adding to the stress. Try writing a list, if you do not, and see how you can get a sense of control by this simple process.
3) Divide your to-do list. Many times our list is one long list of things to do, things to buy, things to watch. Better that we divide our list into a ‘Have to-do List’ and a ‘Want to-do List’. Within the lists, prioritize which is the most important to least important to you.
4) Create a timeline. As I write this today, Christmas is a little more than five weeks out. If I were to use Christmas as my deadline, I would then divide my to-do list items by 1) Five weeks out 2) Four weeks out, Etc. I recommend using a blank calendar for November and December or simply divide a pad into five columns coinciding with each of the five weeks of your five week timeline.
Place the items from your ‘Have to-do List’ first putting the most important items at the beginning of your schedule. If possible, aim to complete most of these items in the first few weeks of your 5 week timeline. Don’t forget to include, on your ‘Have to-do List’, those items to take care of yourself.
Next, place the items from the ‘I Want to-do List’ on your timeline. Do you have room for them? Do you need to eliminate some?
5) Be realistic. Now that you have all of these items listed and on a timeline, go back and review. Are there too many in one week? Are there too many to accomplish? If you can accomplish them, will you be comfortable doing so? Are you likely to run out of energy or time? Or create more pressure on yourself. Will you be likely to enjoy them as you are doing them? Or will the stress of squeezing them all in give you angst? If so, you can easily anticipate the next step.
6) Pare down your list. Examine honestly. Perhaps you will need to be brutally honest to choose items you can live without. The reality is if you want to eliminate stress and increase the joy in the things you do, a brutally honest review will pay off at the end. Don’t be surprised if you find, when you review, that an item or two on the ‘Have to-do List’ can be eliminated, also.
7) Re-evaluate. At the end of each week, evaluate how your plan went. Did you accomplish what you expected? If not, it is time to re-evaluate your plan and make adjustments so that you can have realistic goals going forward. As I always tell my clients at Sweat Equity, “I can guarantee you one thing. Life will get in the way of your plans.” It is important to revise your plan, or just get back to it, so your larger goal can be accomplished.
Dear Friends,
None of us want to be stressed during the holidays, but many accept it as a way of life at this time of year. My goal is to help you examine your priorities and planning to allow you to live a healthy life, create less stress in your life, make your to-do lists activities enjoyable and allow you to truly have the best holiday season.
My Best in Health,
Rita Sachs
Sweat Equity, Ltd.
2413 W 183rd Street
Homewood, Illinois 60430
708/957-4770
Rita Sachs is a co-owner of Sweat Equity, Ltd, a personal training and wellness facility in Homewood, Illinois, where they believe ‘If you want the best, you choose the best’. Rita will be blogging again soon with more healthy hints for the holidays.
